Lillian I. Jorgensen

My mom, Lillian Irene Jorgensen, died peacefully in her home in Sutherlin, Oregon on Friday, November 18, 2011. She was born May 30, 1914 in Victoria, BC, Canada to George and Lillian Davies. Following is a part of a thank you letter I wrote her years ago, and some seems so appropriate to include in my last letter to her: My Mom along with my Dad gave us a childhood that would be enviable by most. All the love and what comes with it, the camping trips, a love for the outdoors and the beauty of it all, Vacations in California, Disneyland, the Northwest and Victoria, BC, Canada to visit her uncle and her birthplace. Mom was of English and Welsh heritage, and was very proud of that. We had wonderful neighbors, relatives and friends who loved us too. There wasn't anything my mom or dad would not do for me or my brother in order to make our lives better that theirs when they were growing up. We grew up in the Sacramento Valley with acres of natural play ground, fruit trees, our own cow, ducks and chickens, a vineyard, side by side swings hanging between tow cottonwood trees, a barn, and the best was a tree house about the roof of the pig sty! We went to the big city of San Francisco where my mom grew up, visiting my ethnically diverse adopted family, going to delis, Chinatown, Seals' games, and horse races. Our adopted grandparents owned a flat over their cleaning and tailoring shop on the corner of Washington and Hyde Streets - one of my favorite memories. We took day long hiking trips in Sierras and foothills looking for antique bottle "dumps", gold and ghost towns. Mom steamed up the kitchen with her wonderful soups, stews, and pomegranate and quince jellies made from our own fruit. I remember the life raft she and dad set up for us kids to make into a "swimming pool" in the hot summer - I also remember the bottom rotted - something to do with the lye in the cement it was lying on. She taught us to ice skate and swim. Mom doted on us through chicken pox, fevers, and flues. (I can remember to this day, her fanning me with my bedroom door). As I got older she worried about me dating young men with mustaches and sports cars! Well, nothing ever came of that. I remember especially her kindheartedness to anything with feathers or fur. She had a healing side to her for any animal including the human variety, weak or sick. Mom loved watching the birds out of her kitchen window, and made sure I threw nothing away that they could eat. My parents retired to Grass Valley, California and lived there 28 years where mom was an active volunteer with the Hospice Thrift Shop. She and dad belonged to the Wally Byam Caravan Club International which took them on a six month tour of Europe with their Airstream trailer in a caravan of 100 others. Mom's favorite hobby was traveling and it also took her to Mexico, Hawaii and Canada. Her atlas was always close by her recliner so she could look up any place in the world she wanted to find. When she moved to Oregon, it was time for me to look over Mom, as she did for us so many years ago. She became more precious to me as the years went by and our roles reversed. I remember the time she called me Mother! She would say to me "why is it that we spend our entire lives collecting things when it's the people we love that counts". Mom also said to me "think of all the things you could be doing if I weren't here". And I would say back to her: "think of all the things we wouldn't be doing and would not have done if it weren't for you". So dear Mom, thank you for giving us life, for sharing your kindness, your humor, your jokes, your English eccentricities, your love of travel and generosity through all our lives. And thank you for things we have never done before like going to Australia, crabbing together, and teaching me "31". Thank you for doing the impossible - trying to teach me pinochle and cribbage, of all things! Also, trailering at the coast and Red Hatting. And thank you for our fun shopping trips to our "favorite" stores where we spent our last afternoon together. Survivors include her daughter Karen and Milo Schauer; son Lyle and Charlain Jorgensen; grandchildren Patty Quisenberry, Michael Odom and Lee Jorgensen and niece Sharon and Ron Berger. Lillian was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years Harry Jorgensen in 1994, parents George and Lillian Davies, and brother George Davies. A special thanks to Dr. Luke Herscher and his staff for their care and concern for her during the last 8 ½ years of her life. And thanks to all who cared about her, especially the Crimson Cuties, and other friends who are helping us through our loss. Now it is time to say goodbye to our Mom and Grandma to our children and cherish the memories and goodness she instilled in so many people.
Love you always and missing you,
Your Daughter