Louis A. “Louie” Yriarte passed away peacefully June 27 at Fox Hallow Care Facility in Eugene.

Louie was born in Crane Aug. 31, 1924, to his parents Salvador and Josefa “Josie” Yriarte. Louie’s parents ran a Basque boarding house in Crane where he attended grade school and high school. In the summertime, Louie helped herd sheep with his uncle Raymond Lausirica (Louie always referred to him as “Unc”) and Pete Ebar (better known as Little Pete). Louie and his brother, Roman, loved the Steens Mountain, and Louie never lost his love for this majestic mountain and the memories of his work and play there.

When Louie was 13, he was severely burned by a black powder explosion resulting in numerous third-degree burns and loss of most of his eyesight. The one thing Louie wanted was to see normally again. However, this never stopped him from working hard and getting things accomplished. He never let his poor eyesight get the best of him. He always had a positive attitude about life and loved living it to the fullest.

After Louie graduated from high school, he was drafted, but because of his poor eyesight, he never served in the military. His induction station was in California, and since he was not selected for service, he worked for the shipyards there. Later, he went back to Burns working for the railroad. While working for the railroad in Burns, he met and married his wife of 72 years, Doris (Hughet) Yriarte in August 1946. In 1947, Doris’ father, Louis Hughet, asked the two of them to work and start a ranch operation at the Double O. He then worked at and was successful in establishing a ranching operation at the Double O. Louie loved working with cattle and his cow dogs and improving the land. He believed in leaving everything in better condition than he found it.

Louie did not mind working alone, but truly loved to visit with family and friends. He commented numerous times how much he enjoyed visiting with his nephew Duane Morgan (Morgano) while he was at Fox Hollow. Louie never spoke without his trademark finger wagging to emphasize his talking points. He was always giving those he liked ranch nicknames, especially his grandchildren, family relatives, and good friends. He gave many names such as: Boone, Morgano, Fred, Derwood, Chick, Muskrat, Weasel, Gnat, Mud, Fetus, Maynard, Clyde, Bonzo, Jarvis, Kaley-Bob, and many more.

Louie loved work and always had more work than he could get done. However, if anyone needed help, he would drop what he was doing to help them and asked nothing in return. Louie loved to hunt and fish, and work always took a backseat to these activities. He was usually talking constantly about the next year’s hunt and how to do it better than last year’s hunt. He always looked forward to his deer and elk hunting trips. He had a great time visiting and telling stories with all his hunting buddies. A tradition of his was to always go to Fish Lake over the Fourth of July.

Louie is survived by his wife, Doris Yriarte; brother, Roman Yriarte; sons, Harland and Charles Yriarte; grandchildren, Javan, Kael, Jenner, Darren, Jamin, Shelesha; and great-grandchildren, Jordan, Hannah, Grace, Asher, Ella, Sylvia, Ayden, and Ava Rose; brother and sister-in-law, Stan and Beth Sayles. Louie is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews living in Oregon, Washington, and California and step-grandchildren and great-step-grandchildren residing in Eugene, Springfield, Klamath Falls, and Seattle, Wash. He loved them all!

Louie was proceeded in death by his father, Salvador Yriarte; mother, Josie Ebar and husband, John Ebar; sisters, Mary Zannino and husband, Frank, Delores Method, Lisa Morgan and husband, Leo; brother, John Ebar and wife, Emmy; nephews, Tony Warbington, Kerry Hughet, and Duane Hughet; nieces, Janice Loya and Lori Mcneese; sister-in-law, Helen Katter; brother-in-law, Louis Hughet Jr.; father-in-law, Louis Hughet; and mother-in-law, Myrthelene Hughet.

A graveside service will be held at the Burns Cemetery on Sept. 1 at noon. Following the graveside service, a memory sharing and Basque lunch will be held at the Burns Elks Lodge beginning at 1 p.m.