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Carol Joy Wolfe
Carol Joy Wolfe passed away the day
after Christmas surrounded by her immediate family. Her many
friends and extended family were greatly shocked and saddened by
her sudden death.
Carol will be remembered as a loving
wife, devoted daughter, a dear sister, wonderful aunt and a
treasured friend. Her kindness, wisdom, generosity, humor,
public service, courage and her love of creatures both great and
small will be greatly missed.
Carol was born, Dec. 20, 1947, in
Arcata, Calif., the daughter of Bob and Beverly Thoman and
Robert’s little sister. Carol met the love of her life, Stephen,
in 1964, and they married in November of 1967. They recently
celebrated 41 years of marriage.
After they were married Carol worked as
an executive secretary in the electronics industry in the San
Francisco Bay Area. She and Stephen visited her parents in the
Hood River Valley for many years and really loved its beauty.
In 1978 Carol and Stephen moved to Hood
River and purchased an orchard. Carol loved being near her
parents, and returning to the area where she attended Central
Vale and Mid Valley Schools.
While farming, Carol also worked for a
period of time for the Hood River County School District as the
purchasing agent and as the secretary of May Street Elementary
School. Carol was also instrumental in helping her dear friend,
Cleo Sterling, with the founding of PROD (Promoting Responsible
Ownership of Dogs) and was an active member of the Odell Lioness
Club for 31 years.
Carol is survived by her husband,
Stephen; her father, Bob Thoman, of Hood River; her brother and
sister-in-law, Robert and Joanne Thoman, of McKinleyville,
Calif.; nephew, Izaak Thoman, of Gladstone, Ore.; nieces Heather
Wolfe Conlan, of San Mateo, Calif., and Hilary Wolfe Mahany, of
Piedmont, Calif.; her aunt, Shirley Fabel, of Falon, Nev.; 11
cousins and, of course, her beloved Boo and Cosmo, and many
other creatures great and small.
A celebration of Carol’s life will be
held on Saturday, Jan. 3, at noon at the Hood River Alliance
Church on Montello Street, with a reception immediately
following.
Remembrances may be made in her honor
to: PROD, 7741 Cook-Underwood Road, Underwood, WA 98651, or
Heart of Hospice, 1020 Wasco St., Suite C, Hood River, OR 97031,
or in care of Anderson’s Tribute Center (Funerals, Receptions,
Cremations), 1401 Belmont Ave., Hood River, OR 97031; (541)
386-1000. Please visit www.andersonstributecenter.com to view
and print the obituary and sign the guest book for family.
Lura Mary Merz
Lura Mary Merz passed away in her sleep
at 91 years of age on Dec. 15, 2008, at Columbia Basin Care
Facility in The Dalles, Ore. She was born in Battle Creek,
Mich., to Grant H. and Ethel M. Lapham on July 13, 1917. At
about the age of 2, the family moved to Concrete, Wash., where
she grew up with her three younger siblings.
At the age of 17, in 1934, she married
George Godfrey. During their 16-year marriage she became the
mother of three: two girls, Josephine and Joyce, and a son,
Joseph.
In 1952, at the age of 35, she was
remarried to John A. Merz in Yakima, Wash. John also came from a
previous marriage with two girls, Lorene and Melody, and a son,
John Jr. Together, Johnny and Lura had three more children:
Ronald, Rosanne, and Steven — truly a “yours, mine and ours”
family.
In 1957, John and Lura moved the family
to Parkdale, Ore., and purchased the “Rumbaugh Place” on Clear
Creek Road. They farmed pears, apples, strawberries and
potatoes, while also leasing the “Bozich Place” on Lava Road.
The family kept a milk cow, horses, chickens, guinea hens,
ducks, geese, a pig or two, and a steer to fatten for meat.
Lura was a 4-H leader and taught both a
cooking class and a knitting class. The younger kids were
involved with 4-H and showed pigs, their horse, Trudy, and a
Jersey and Angus string of cattle at county and state fairs over
the years. It was also important to Lura for her children to be
exposed to music; hence, each had piano lessons from Mrs. Hood
in Parkdale growing up.
After most of the children were out of
the house, Lura worked at Diamond Fruit Growers, both in
Parkdale and at Diamond Central in Odell. In 1972, she and
Johnny sold their farm and moved to a piece of property which
adjoined it.
Later, they moved to Eliot Drive in Hood
River, Ore., where they enjoyed many years of retirement. Often,
they could not be found at home as they were on the road
traveling in their RV, which was a pastime they enjoyed very
much.
Lura was a wonderful cook, often
whipping up whole meals out of what seemed like nothing. She was
highly skilled at anything to do with sewing and crafts. She was
an avid quilter, and most of her children can tell you that they
still have a quilt or two made by Lura. Comically, her quilting
frame took up so much space that her visitors can remember
having to crawl under it to get through the living room!
Lura also had a great passion for
gardening. She was often “caught” by her family members outside
arduously working in the garden when the summer heat made it
seem crazy to be doing so! Rarely was a thing grown in the
garden wasted; Lura could have written a book on canning and
preserving food. Much of her work ethic in this way was driven
by hard times earlier in life — nothing was thrown away.
Lura loved camping and the outdoors. The
great Merz hunts for deer and elk were always cause for
excitement, usually serving as an excuse for the children to get
out of school. Lura seemed to be a “bear magnet,” and retellings
of her several bear encounters over the years are a point of
humor within the family.
Her grandchildren hold cherished
memories of camping trips to The Cedars in the RV, where they
were allowed to run amok day in and day out, so long as their
hands were washed before dinnertime.
As one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lura
loved to share her faith with others. She belonged and attended
meeting at the Hood River location. The onset of Alzheimer’s
disease facilitated her move from the Eliot Drive house to
Columbia Basin Care Facility in The Dalles in 1995.
Lura’s spunk, expert gardening and
homemaking skills, and all-around capability and can-do
determination, will be fondly remembered by her family as
hallmarks of her legacy. She is survived by a brother, Alba
Lapham; five of her children: Josephine Bader, Joyce Cannon,
Ronald Merz, RosAnne Cyrus and Steven Merz; and three
stepchildren: Lorene Murray, John Merz Jr. and Melody Lembeke.
There are 20 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and six
great-great-grandchildren.
The family has decided there will be no
memorial service. Remembrances in Lura’s name may be made to the
Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital Foundation Sunshine
Club.
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