Molly Percival

Molly Falknor Percival's life spanned nearly a century. The Pacific Northwest native, granddaughter of a Norwegian immigrant, lived out her 95 years on the West Coast, from Puget Sound to Portland to the San Francisco Bay Area and, finally, Portland's South Waterfront, where she died on February 28, 2026.

She was born in Seattle on July 13, 1930, to Bennett Falknor (son of Seattle attorney A.J. Falknor and brother of Judson F. Falknor, longtime dean of the University of Washington Law School) and Emily Carlberg (one of 11 children of Gunther Carlberg and Caroline Sorley Carlberg, who named their Wenatchee, Washington, apple orchard "Valhalla.")

Molly and her sister Helene loved spending summers at a family cabin on Hood Canal, collecting oysters that her auntie fried up for big family get-togethers.

In her senior year at Washington State University, Molly married Edward Lee Sherman, the son of Annetta Allen Sherman of Pullman and Beverly N. Sherman of Los Angeles. (Beverly's brother, lawyer Austin Sherman, once represented actor James Cagney in a suit against the actor's movie studio, according to the Los Angeles Times.) The couple had three children-Lee Anna, Teri Lynn, and James Edward. In Seattle, Ed was an executive at Alaska Airlines during its startup years. The family moved to the Portland area when Ed took a job at Timber Structures Inc.

Molly kept a tidy home, served balanced meals at the family's blue Formica kitchen table, and grew potted geraniums on her back porch. She played bridge and golf, once hitting a hole-in-one at the Lake Oswego municipal golf course.

At age 40, Ed suffered brain damage from viral encephalitis. He lived out his days at the VA, first in Roseburg, Oregon, and later in Palo Alto, California.

Molly started over. She moved with her two youngest children to the Bay Area to be near her sister and mother, taking a job as a placement counselor at a small employment agency. Eventually, she remarried. Her second husband, Joe Percival, was a patent draftsman at Varian Inc. in Palo Alto. They retired to Brookings, Oregon, where Molly renewed her childhood interest in painting, winning numerous ribbons for her watercolors at the annual city art festival.

She was a lifelong Democrat who kept a close eye on politics. TV ads for abused and abandoned dogs and cats made her cry. Her tender heart toward animals prompted her to donate what she could to charities such as the ASPCA and the Humane Society.

She attributed her longevity to eating right (lots of broccoli, blueberries, orange juice, and whole grains) and sipping a glass of chilled Pinot Gris before dinner.

Molly died peacefully in palliative care at Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital. She is survived by her daughters Lee Anna Sherman and Teri Lynn Sherman Matias; her son James Edward Sherman; her sons-in-law Flor Matias and William Gellatly; and her grandson Keenan Sok Heng Matias.