E'Jay Weber

E’Jay was born July 25, 1926 to Achatias and Lillian Towner. The birth was at home, on the Towner wheat ranch in Meadow Gulch near Pomeroy, Washington. She attended grade school at Country School #116 (the Meadow Gulch School) for 8 years and graduated as valedictorian from Pomeroy High School. At Washington State University, she focused on preparing for graduate work in physical therapy. However, a charming World War II veteran named Patrick Morrissey persuaded her to pivot to life on the Steward & Morrissey cattle ranch with his mother Margaret Morrissey Steward and step-father Bob Steward. E’Jay earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from WSU in 1947, and the young couple married in 1948.

The ranch ran on a shoestring for the first few years, with little money for non-essentials like modern motorized equipment. The work was hard and physical, and especially during the hay season, was done primarily with horses. The two couples shared a large ranch house for the first few years. At first “the kids” (Pat and E’Jay) lived upstairs and “the folks” (Bob and Margaret) lived downstairs, and then they switched places after the arrival of Sara Lee in 1950 and Mike in 1952. Margaret’s sister Sarah Martin, who was an elementary school teacher and principal in Southern California, came up every summer to take care of the children so E’Jay could keep working in the hayfields.

In 1956 Steward & Morrissey rented a neighborhood ranch, and Pat, E’Jay, and the kids moved into their own three-bedroom house. The hay crew expanded, with high school students living in the bunk house all summer. E’Jay became the cook for the greatly enlarged hay crew (3 meals a day, with up to 18 people at the main noon meal). The menu included large quantities of homemade bread fresh every day, homegrown vegetables from the garden, homegrown beef from the herd, eggs and chicken from the family hens, and milk and butter from the family cow.

In the late ‘50’s, E’Jay joined with her mother-in-law Margaret and her friends Betty Warner and Janice Phillips to initiate a “Ladies’ Auxiliary” to the Baker County Cattlemen’s Association, called the CowBelles. The Baker County CowBelles put on cooking schools, did demonstrations and school assemblies, were featured on a Boise television news program, and planned a major presentation to deliver in Washington DC.

During this time, E’Jay also served several terms on the District 5J School Board, working to cut waste, reduce class size, and improve the teaching environment. In 1967 she left the ranch, and her marriage to Pat ended soon after.  She earned a teaching degree at Eastern Oregon State College, taught in Pendleton, moved to Reno, Nevada, and married Jim Weber in 1971.

Jim and E’Jay bought several acres outside Ontario, Oregon, where Jim worked as a realtor and E’Jay taught science at the junior high school in Payette Idaho from 1970 to 1976. In Ontario she began a lifelong interest in “kiln art,” working initially in high-fire ceramics. Her interests in chemistry and geology led to developing her own glazes, including a trip to Mt. St. Helen’s to collect pure ash after the eruption. (The ash-based glazes weren’t fantastic, but they sure were interesting!)

Ceramics led to a long relationship with Chen Sui-Ming (“Ming”), who was based in Washington DC and operated the Ceramic Arts Institute. E’Jay earned her Master Teacher credential from Ming in 1976 and traveled around North America and to Australia to teach ceramic techniques. She developed a deep interest in Japanese and Chinese brush strokes and created evocative designs inspired by the wheat plants that had been such an important part of her childhood. After she and Jim “retired” to Richland, Oregon, she built a ceramics shop with an attached apartment where students could come and stay for intensive study. Neighborhood kids also came by for lessons, often free of charge.

After Jim’s death, E’Jay began planning her dream house on Kirkway Avenue in Baker City. As she grew older, the ceramics molds became more difficult to manage, and by the time she moved into the Kirkway house, she had completed her transition from ceramics to kiln-formed glass. She had always been a supporter of The Crossroads Arts, where she donated time, art, and money. There, her glasswork grew into a fundraising project: a glass tile curtain at the front desk.

As she began losing her vision, E’Jay gave equal care and focus to her “second retirement”, first to the Meadowbrook apartments on Lund Lane, where she made friends up and down the street, and then friends throughout the building, including the staff, when she transferred to Meadowbrook itself. In the last months of her life, she entered hospice, and made even more friends.

E’Jay passed away on August 27, 2024, age the age of 98, surrounded by friends and family. She is survived by her children: Sara Lee Seaman and Michael Morrissey; her grandchildren: Justin, Cassie, and Colin; and many great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held July 5, 2025 - 10:30 a.m. at Mike Morrissey’s ranch in conjunction with Karmic Relief, the Morrissey family summer music festival. A graveside committal will be held on Sunday, July 6, 2025 - 10:30 a.m. at Eagle Valley Cemetery.   No flowers please. Donations may be sent to Crossroads Carnegie Art Center, Best Friends of Baker, or Heart ‘n Home Hospice. Through Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home PO Box 543 Halfway, Oregon 97834.

Everyone knew E’Jay as a talented artist, but beyond her skills with glass and ceramics, she cultivated friendships like a master gardener. Listener, adviser, confidante to her generation and, increasingly, their children and grandchildren,  E’Jay helped people weed out the thorny problems in life and harvest joy. In her own words, E’Jay hoped that she would be remembered “as a good friend.”  In the end, this artist, teacher, mother, grandmother, and friend will be missed. Rest well, E’Jay.