Gray's West & Co. Pioneer Chapel

Staff

Dennis and Darlene Teskey have owned and operated Gray's West & Company Pioneer Chapel since 1992.

Dennis graduated from Ashland High School in 1970 then attended Southern Oregon College before he began his apprenticeship at Litwieller Funeral Home in Ashland. He graduated from Mt. Hood Community College in 1974 with a degree in Mortuary Science.

After managing one of the largest funeral homes in Portland, Oregon for many years, Dennis helped start two new funeral homes, then managed the largest funeral home in the Northwest before purchasing Gray's West and Company. He is a member of Rotary International, Masonic Lodge, Elks, a sponsor member of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, board member for Salvation Army, and a past member of the Jaycees. Dennis is an avid outdoorsman and enjoyes the opportunities Baker County offers for archery, fishing, boating, skiing and snowmobiling.

Darlene graduated from Crook County High School in Prineville, Oregon in 1969 and attended Mt. Hood Community College and Clackamas Community College. She resided in Baker County in the early 1970s when she lived in Unity, Oregon.

Darlene obtained an insurance license from the State of Oregon in 1992 and became a licensed funeral director in 1994. She served on the board of directors for Baker County Historical Society as Treasurer, Baker City Lions, Baker City Kiwanis as President, Business and Professional Women, and WISE. She is active with many Chamber of Commerce activities, and actively co-ordinates the grief seminars sponsored by Gray's West & Company throughout the year.

Dennis and Darlene are members of the Nazarene Church. They have three grown children, Angela, Troy and Season and enjoy spending time with their 6 grandchildren. Their love for the outdoors and longing for a more relaxed lifestyle brought them to Baker City where they use their expertise to help families and friends through difficult times and decisions.

Troy Hanson graduated from Baker High School in 1992 and served his funeral director / embalming apprenticeship at both family businesses; Gray’s West & Company in Baker City, Oregon and Driskill Memorial Chapel in John Day, Oregon.

While attending college at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, he worked for Ross Hollywood Funeral Chapel in Portland, Oregon. After graduating in June of 2000 he continued his career with Smith Lund Mills Funeral Chapel in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Troy returned to Eastern Oregon in January of 2002 to rejoin his parents in the family business. He works at both establishments and considers himself blessed for the opportunity to live and work, both in Baker City and his home town, John Day.

Troy is married to Julianne Hancock, also a native of John Day. The couple has two children, a daughter Olivia, who was born in John Day and a son Hayden, who was born in Baker City.

He is a member of the Baker City Lions Club and the Sumpter, Oregon Masonic Lodge, as well as a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks #1824 in John Day. Troy enjoys anything outdoors, from skiing and snowshoeing to elk, deer and bird hunting and has more recently become an avid steelhead fisherman, often spending his time off during the winter on one of several steelhead rivers Northeast Oregon has to offer including the Wallowa, Imnaha, Snake and John Day Rivers. Currently Troy is managing Driskill Memorial Chapel in John Day Oregon.

Rebecca DuBreuil joined the Gray's West staff in 2003. She was born and raised in Auburn, Washington, outside of Seattle. She graduated from Auburn Senior High School in 1994.

Rebecca went to South Seattle Community College for floral design and Portland Community College for general studies before graduating with an Associates in Arts degree from Central Oregon Community College in Bend, OR. She went on to study chemistry at Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande, OR.

She returned to Washington in 2002 and began her funeral director/embalmer apprenticeship with Powers Funeral Home in Puyallup, WA. Her love for the small towns in Eastern Oregon brought her to Gray's West and Company. She occasionally travels to John Day to work at Driskill Memorial Chapel. Rebecca became a licensed funeral director in 2005.