ENCORE

Exploring New Concepts Of Retirement Education

In Memorium

Joan Dolph

Joan Dolph, an ENCORE member and instructor who died March 2, was well loved by the many who enrolled in her popular music classes. She herself was not a musician, but her love and knowledge of the musical “greats” shined through her presentations. Her fading eyesight did not slow her down and her “Thursdays at the Music Hall” were well attended, even though by that time she had completely lost her eyesight.
     Joan’s background was in journalism. She graduated from the U of O in 1945, where she was editor of the yearbook and news editor of the Daily Emerald. In 1946 she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where she received a degree in business administration from Radcliff College. She eventually moved to New York to work in the advertising industry. In the late 1960s she moved to Paris. Then in 1973 Joan moved to Seaside to care for her mother in the family home that her father had built in 1938.
     Joan’s friend, Ron Lovell of Gleneden beach, said that “the courses she taught for you really added a lot to her life.” Joan will be missed by her many ENCORE friends. Her inspired teaching was greatly enjoyed by all who enrolled in her classes.                                                         

Phyllis Dubb

Phyllis Stefania Dubb, 74, an Astoria resident since 1964, died Monday, September 7, in Portland. Phyllis was born on February 12, 1935, in Stornoway, Saskatchewan, the daughter of Michael and Catherine Zacharuk.

Following college, Phyllis moved to Bermuda in 1958 and worked as a hospital lab technician when not touring the island on her Mobylette moped. In 1960, she moved to Seward, Alaska, where she continued to work as a lab technician and also met her future husband, Nicholas Dubb.

Phyllis and Nick were married on August 12, 1961, at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. After starting a family, Phyllis retired from lab work and became a full time homemaker, a labor of love at which she excelled for the next 46 years.

After the "Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964", they settled in Astoria. She was a member of Grace Episcopal Church and the Angora Hiking Club and was active in the Boy Scouts and several volunteer projects. In addition to family and friends, her other passions were gardening and travel (and collecting rocks).

Surviving are son and daughter-in-law Michael and Connie Dubb, son and daughter-in-law Stephen and Marilyn Dubb, daughter and son-in-law Catherine and John McFadden; five grandchildren Stephen, Ryan and Ashlee Dubb, Jessica and Matthew Nokelby; sister Iris Derenowski; brothers Walter, Russell, Michael and Steven Zacharuk; and numerous nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her husband, Nick, in 1991.

Friends may pay their respects Tuesday and Wednesday from 1pm to 7pm at Hughes-Ransom Mortuary in Astoria. The funeral service will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Astoria on Thursday at 1pm followed by a private graveside service at Oceanview Cemetery. A Celebration of Life will be held at The Loft in the Red Building at 3:30pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: OHSU Foundation for Lung Cancer Research (Dr. Alan Sandler), care of Hughes-Ransom Mortuary, 576 12th St, Astoria, Oregon, 97103. All donations will directly support lung cancer research.

Hilda Jean Hitchman

As Hilda Jean Hitchman grew up on the picturesque south coast of England, she could never have imagined the life that lay ahead of her in America. The youngest of three children, she was born March 10, 1920, and had a typical English childhood.

Then came World War II, and everything changed. Her much- loved brothers Frank and Don went off to join the war, and her father, a Lt. Commander in the British Navy, was put in charge of the naval facility near Weymouth, where many of the American liberty ships docked and unloaded their cargoes. "Jean," as she was always called, did her part too, joining the WRENs (the British equivalent of the WAVEs in the U.S.). She became a petty officer, working as a secretary to naval officers. And, like all her countrymen, she weathered the hard, dark times of the war years, when England’s very survival hung in the balance.

On one of the liberty ships docking at Weymouth was a handsome, divorced American sailor named Lavern Hitchman, who would meet and steal the heart of the young and lovely Jean Baxter, while his ship was in port. Several perilous Atlantic crossings and Weymouth reunions later, he made her his wife.

When the war ended, Lavern joined millions of other American servicemen in a return to civilian life. Jean followed him home to Warrenton, and appropriately enough, she and her baby daughter Mary came to her new land in 1945 on the first postwar crossing of the Queen Mary, once the world's most luxurious ocean liner, but refitted for war duty as a troop transport. Two years later, a second daughter, Alice, joined them, and together, they began building a life.

Lavern and Jean bought a small motel and gradually added on to it, later converting it to apartments. Jean wrote for the local newspaper, while Lavern went to work at the Tongue Point naval shipyard. The girls had busy childhoods and did very well in school, a source of great pride to Jean and Lavern. Both girls went on to graduate from college and to successful careers. In their parents' honor, the daughters established a small scholarship at their alma mater, Warrenton High School, more than 20 years ago, and Jean never missed the awards ceremony at which it’s presented, including this year.
Jean became a U.S. citizen and, in many respects, as American as apple pie, although she never completely lost her charming English accent. As a girl in England, she'd followed family tradition by becoming skilled at sewing and knitting, which she continued as an adult. Her hands were seldom idle; even late in life, evening TV was usually accompanied by knitting or cross-stitch. After the girls were grown, she employed her skills turning out lap robes and slippers by the dozens for the VA hospital. She and Lavern were active in local VFW and American Legion. Jean was made a full member of the Legion in her own right, a rare honor for a Brit.

Jean was a demon crossword fan, quickly dispatching the New York Times puzzle every Sunday. As befitted their rural coastal environs, she and Lavern raised goats, chickens and ducks and often fished and dug razor clams, an activity at which she had few equals, despite her diminutive size. Her clam chowder was declared the best ever by all lucky enough to experience it.

Lavern’s health began to fail in the early '90's, and he passed away in 1997, their 52nd year together. Determined to stay active, Jean sold the apartments and moved to nearby Seaside. She kept up her crafts and added a new activity, singing in two local choral groups (the Cannon Beach Chorus and Happy Songsters) in a soft, but lovely soprano. With the former group, she traveled to New York and performed at Carnegie Hall. She continued her involvement with the American Legion and VFW, too, and was a regular at the frequent senior lunches.

A fall in 2007 forced a move to assisted-living facilities in Oregon City. Even though she was slowed physically, she was still mentally sharp right up until her death, July 17, 2009, after another fall and consequences of the resulting surgery. She was 89.

Jean was much loved by her friends and family, some of whom called her Mumsy. At her wish, no funeral services were held. She is survived by her daughter, Alice Hayden and her husband Robert of Oregon City; her daughter, Mary Taylor and her husband Steven of Port Orford; her stepson, Donald Lavern Hitchman of Bellevue, Wash.; her stepdaughter, Nancy Hitchman Mancill of Fountain Valley, Calif.; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Remembrances should be sent to the auxiliary of the VFW or the American Legion.

N. Patricia Kinter Bradley

N. Patricia Kinter Bradley, 80, of Gearhart, died Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009, in Gearhart, after a short illness.

She was born May 16, 1929, in Twin Falls, Idaho, to Harry Martin and Mona Elizabeth (Piper) Kinter.

She graduated from John Rogers High School in Spokane, Wash., in 1947, and received a bachelor's degree in music education from Idaho State College (University) in 1952.

On Dec. 28, 1955, she married the Rev. Wallace Claude Bradley at Trinity Episcopal Church in Portland. He proceeded her in death in 1987.

Ms. Bradley taught school in Reedsport and Hillsboro. After her children were born, the family relocated to the Portland metropolitan area, and owned a summer home in Gearhart. She semi-retired to Gearhart in 1976. In 1983, while working as a pastry chef at the Crab Broiler, she gained national attention for her blackberry pie, which was featured in Jane and Michael Stern's book "Goodfood." At full retirement she remained active with the American Association of University Women, Exploring New Concepts of Retirement Education, the Cannon Beach Chorus and the Seaside Sunset Pool senior swim program. In 2001, she spearheaded a campaign to raise money for Sunset Pool capital improvements suggesting the concept, and recruiting models for the Sunset Ladies in "Hot" Water calendar. She modeled for the calendar as Ms. February wearing black stiletto heels, pearls and a Russian fur hat.

In recent years Patricia was active in the Cannon Beach Chorus and was a member at the time of her death.

She is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Claudia Bradley and Jerome Scherzinger of Lopez Island, Wash., and Macy Yates and Daniel Leinweber of Hammond; a son, Kevin Bradley of Portland; a sister, Macy Brown of Salem; and three grandchildren, Daniel Yates of Warrenton, Tristan Scherzinger of Spokane, Wash., and Gretchen Scherzinger of Billings, Mont.

A memorial will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 12 at Calvary Episcopal Church in Seaside with a reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Sunset Pool or the Cannon Beach Chorus, in care of Caldwell's Funeral & Cremation Arrangement Center, 113 N. Holladay Drive, Seaside, OR 97138.