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Patty Brown
After dealing with many health issues for several years, our dear member Patty Brown passed away on Tuesday, May 28.
Patty joined our Club in 2000 and was an active member until she relocated to Redmond for health reasons and to live with her sister. She once commented that their mother would be very surprised if she knew Patty and her sister were sharing a home. Growing up, the two sisters were barely willing to share a room! In 2019, Patty and her sister enjoyed traveling to Europe and Wales.
Patty was a faithful member of the Club and was active and recognized by many in the Oregon City community. She and now associate member Diane McKnight organized the annual Easter Egg hunt in Oregon City for more than 15 years. Patty also volunteered at the Stevens Crawford House and the Museum of the Oregon Territory. She was active in her neighborhood association. Although not a member, Patty was an active participant in First Evangelical Presbyterian Church. There she set up the current bookkeeping system on QuickBooks, changing from the old paper ledger system.
While responsible for making many activities and events happen, Patty did it quietly from a behind the scenes approach, rather than being in the spotlight. A few years ago she returned to the Oregon City area and, for a brief time, she was able to attend meetings. At the time of her passing, she was living in memory care at Hope Village in Canby. Patty will be remembered for her cheerful, friendly personality and especially for her beautiful smile.
Margaret “Marge” Loney
Margaret Loney, our oldest living member at age 97, passed away January 16, 2024. She was born May 6, 1926, in Oregon City, Oregon.
She attended Jennings Lodge Elementary School and Oregon City High School. She and her husband Stanley were married in 1948 and together had three children: a daughter Kim, who lives in California; a son Russell, who lives in Milwaukie, Oregon; and a son Robert, who died in a tragic ocean accident when he was 13. Her beloved husband Stanley died several years ago. Margaret leaves behind her daughter, son, two granddaughters and five great-grandchildren.
During their married years, Stanley’s job required him to travel and the family to move to a few different locations. Stanley didn’t really enjoy traveling with his job, so he bought a “getaway” condo in Seaside in the 1990s, which he and Margaret enjoyed for many years.
Margaret joined the Oregon City Woman’s Club in 1986 and was a much beloved and active member of the Club. During her active years she served as chair of the Civic Improvement Committee for many years, was Club Historian, recognized as a Woman of Dedication in 1997 and received the Gold Key Award in 2007. One of her favorite roles was serving on the Telephone Committee. This was long before email so every member was called before each meeting to get a head count of attendees. Marge loved calling and talking to the ladies on her list.
Upon Stanley’s passing, for a few years Margaret remained in the family home. She was an avid bowler at Milwaukie Bowl, even when she was in her 80s. She spent her later years at The Springs at Clackamas Woods, an independent senior living facility, where she received extra care as needed. Margaret was not known as a complainer, always making the best of situations and accepting growing older with graciousness and a cheerful, spunky attitude.
Although she will be deeply missed, Club members who knew Margaret are grateful for the privilege of knowing and working with her for so many years. She was a very special and delightful woman, a real asset to the Club.
SHIRLEY NEWHOUSE
Long time club Member Shirley Newhouse passed away on December 25, 2022. Shirley became a member in 1997 and received the Woman of Dedication Award in 2003.
She was born September 1, 1935 in Oregon City to Vernald and Katherine Moehnke. She married her high school sweetheart, Bill Newhouse, in 1956. While still attending college in Corvallis, their first of three sons was born (Grant). After a brief move to Lincoln City, they settled in Oak Grove where two more sons were born (Greg and Graeme). Shirley and Bill worked together for many years at their pharmacy in Oregon City, located near the top of the elevator. After the sale of the pharmacy in 1982, Shirley continued her career as a pharmacy tech until her retirement.
Shirley was baptized and married at Zion Lutheran Church in Oregon City, and later made St. Stephens Lutheran Church as her family's church home. Shirley was very active in numerous community organizations including Oregon City Woman's Club, Lady Shriners and volunteered for many years with Hospice. She traveled with Bill across the U.S. as Shriner Ambassadors.
She is survived by her husband, William Newhouse; two sons, Grant Newhouse and Graeme Newhouse; son, Greg Newhouse predeceased her in 2014. She has eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Shirley will be remembered for her love of family. She was always looking forward to spending time and traveling with her sons and grandchildren. For Shirley, there was no better time to be with family than the holidays, where she was known for her loving hospitality and wonderful cooking.
KARIN MOREY
With sadness the GFWC Oregon City Woman’s Club was sorry to hear that Karin Morey, a 10 year member of our organization passed away May 31, 2022. She was our webmaster, historian and parliamentarian. She was a previous Facebook publisher and member of our auction committee. Karin was passionate about OCWC history and pursued information about our Past Presidents. Each year, the club places red carnations at each of the Past President’s graves at Mt. View Cemetery. Karin was there most years to help with this project.
Karin was born in Portland and was one of two adoptive daughters. Her Criminal Justice education led her to a total of 32 years with Clackamas County Parole and Probation. She leaves a son, Ryan.
Karin loved history, especially historic research on Oregon City and Clackamas County. She was an author of many historic papers and books. She gave presentations on over 100 years of women in Oregon City. In 2017 she was named Oregon City’s “Citizen of the Year”. According to the information written by the city at the time, the award was for “her historic work that took many hours, days, months volunteering her time to transcribing hand-written minutes from the 1800’s to be archived. Her work ethic, inclusiveness, depth of experience and history have all contributed to keeping the City’s history alive”.
In September 2021, the countywide Susannah Lee Barlow Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution awarded Morey with the Women in American History award, honoring her significant contributions to historical preservation, education and patriotism, according to Phyllis Hines, DAR chapter regent. "She works tirelessly in the Oregon City community," Hines said of Morey. Karin was very proud of this award and achievement.
The Oregon City Woman’s Club is proud of the work she has done and honored to have had her as a member. We will miss her. Note: there is a wonderful article about Karin that was published in the Oregon City News on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
Betty Gallucci
As we close out 2021, we say rest in peace to a long time member of the Greater Federation of Woman's Clubs . . . Betty Gallucci (90+ years old), was a member for around 50 years, having started in Lake Oswego and in 2016 moved to the Oregon City Woman's Club. Betty was committed to volunteerism and giving back to the community. She collected books, clothing, bedding, backpacks and many other items that she cleaned, sorted and delivered to various non-profits.
Betty was the mother of 2 children. She traveled extensively with her late husband Tony, who passed away at 74 years after 20 years of marriage. She loved dogs and you could always see her with hers. She was a realtor, a member of the Portland Storytelling Guild, Oaky Doaks Square and Round Dance Club and she was a clown for close to 30 years, performing as "Betty Boop Klosette".
From a few of our members: Gail Aldridge, said it well and echo's many other members of our club . . . " The thing that struck me the most was how she was continually looking for ways to be active, stay relevant and challenge herself. She was always looking ahead to the next club meeting or making plans to attend a conference somewhere. I know all of this because I was lucky enough to be on her mailing list and received her newsletters. She’s the only person I know who sent out a newsletter periodically, something other people only do at Christmas. She always invited her readers to join her in her various activities. She was really something." From Sandra Brown . . . "Betty was definitely a unique, fascinating, and charitable lady. Loved her newsletter! She will be missed by many. RIP Betty." From Bev Spilseth . . . "Betty is flying with the angels and I’m sure they are having a hard time keeping up with her! She was quite the character. Our phone conversations were long and late because she was a busy gal and had to tell me all about it. She was intelligent, had strong opinions, and wasn’t afraid to share them. I always tried to picture her as a realtor. I bet she was a pistol! RIP Betty. You will be missed." From Julie Peters . . . "I’m sure she reached the gates with a lot of noise and packages for everyone and maybe a tad late:). She was so kind and I still wonder if there was film in that camera when she snapped so many pictures. A life well lived for sure!"
Rest in Peace Betty!