Mrs. Florence A. Berreth

Florence was born in 1921 in Tacoma, Washington. She was the first child of Mabel and Joseph Heimbigner. Soon after her birth her father passed away. Later, Mabel remarried a few years after to Roy Dawson. Two more children followed. A daughter Marjorie and brother Alton, known to all as "Bud". Florence and family spent their early years growing up in Walla Walla, WA. She graduated from WaHi in 1939. After graduation she met and married Eugene Berreth, also a Walla Walla resident. After starting a family of girls, they moved to Portland, Oregon where they lived, and raised their five daughters. Patricia Gene, Kathleen Marie, Constance Mae, Elsie Marlene and Deborah Gene. Florence worked for the Lipman Wolfe company starting in 1961. She continued a career in retail sales where she particularly enjoyed the Bridal department. Many beautiful brides owed their special day to her over the years. Besides her sales career, she was also a homemaker who was a Girl Scout Leader, seamstress, china painter and gardener. She loved flowers and was inspirational to her family in her love of art. Florence and Eugene were members of Savage Memorial Presbyterian Church where they were active in "Sea Swells" and other church functions. After retirement they traveled with their fifth wheel camper and became "Arizona Snowbirds". Eugene passed away in 1990, after which Florence downsized to a condominium in Gresham, and later to Vancouver. She spent 16 years in her Vancouver place before moving to a retirement home where she spent the next year and then, when her health required it, to the Harmony Adult Foster Care Home in Vancouver. She passed away there after a long battle with Congestive Heart Failure, COPD, and Macular Degeneration. She is survived by three daughters, Kathleen, Connie & Deborah. Two others, Elsie and Patricia, preceded her in death from cancer. She had 12 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren and 3 great great-grandchildren all of whom will miss their Gramma Florence!