BAKER CITY — A former Baker County resident whose daughter was killed in action in Iraq in 2008 testified in support of a bill in the Oregon Legislature to designate Highway 30 as the Oregon Gold Star Families Memorial Highway.

Gold Star families are those who have had a member die while serving in the military.

On Thursday, April 20, Steve Ellis, whose daughter, Cpl. Jessica Ellis, was killed in Iraq on May 11, 2008, testified on behalf of House Bill 2146.

The bill, introduced at the request of the House Interim Committee on Veterans and Emergency Management for Lt. Col. Dick Tobiason, would designate the section of U.S. Highway 30 from near the Oregon Coast to the Idaho border.

Although Interstate 84 replaced Highway 30 over much of its former route, several sections of the original highway remain, including between North Powder and Baker City, and sections southeast of Baker City.

In his testimony before the Senate Committee on Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs, Steve Ellis recalled the knock on the door of the home near Baker City where he and his wife, Linda, were living in May 2008.

“The image of those two Class A Army uniforms in the porch light when I opened the door that night is forever seared in my memory,” Steve Ellis said. “For the most part, our country has moved on from the Iraq war. We never can. For fifteen years now, my wife, Linda, and I have been members of a group nobody really wants to be in, the long line of families that have borne the losses of those who died in the service of our country.”

Steve and Linda Ellis now live in rural Clackamas County southeast of Portland.

The Legislature previously designated a segment of Oregon Highway 140 west of Lakeview, where Jessica Ellis graduated from high school, as the Cpl. Jessica Ellis Fallen Hero Memorial Highway.

Jessica Ellis was considered a Baker County resident when she died, as her driver’s license and vehicle registration had her parents’ address in Baker County.