Clara Jane "Tops" Kerns

1919 - 2007

Clara Jane "Tops" Kerns

A funeral Mass was celebrated Wednesday, August 22 for Clara Jane "Tops" Kerns of Eugene who died Saturday, August 18, 2007 of heart failure. She was 88. She was born January 26, 1919.

Mrs. Kerns moved to Eugene in 1949 with her husband Thomas A. Kerns, M.D. who began his practice in family medicine at the Eugene Hospital and Clinic.

Besides the daily rigors of raising eight children, Dr. and Mrs. Kerns were actively engaged in a variety of church, school and civic projects. Among them were the founding in 1973 of Eugene's Serenity Lane drug and alcohol treatment center, which since its inception has treated more than 40,000 alcoholics and drug addicts.

In 1964, Mrs. Kerns and her husband co-founded the Eugene Montessori School with Don and Helen Walsh, the second school of its kind in the state. On occasion, Mrs. Kerns would welcome into her home one or two of the first instructors brought to Eugene from London, England until they could find their own lodging.

Clara Jane Mangelsdorf was born in Atchison, Kansas, the sixth of eight children. When she was a toddler, her older siblings dubbed her "Tops" because of her bubbly disposition. The nickname stuck with her wherever life took her.

She completed nurses' training in 1941 at St. John's Hospital which was affiliated with St. Louis University. Weeks before her graduation, she married Tom Kerns, a fact that had to remain secret because the nursing school did not allow married nursing students.

After completing medical school, her husband interned in the U.S. Navy and was stationed on a destroyer in the Pacific. She cared for their first two children, living with family and friends in various locations until he returned from the war.

In 1947 Mrs. Kerns and her growing family moved to Grants Pass where their third child was born and two years later to Eugene where she gave birth to five more children.

Throughout this time, Mrs. Kerns was a frequent volunteer at parish events and as a scout den mother, librarian, playground mom at St. Mary School, St. Paul School, St. Francis High School and Marist High School.

Among the most enduring pleasures was time spent with all her dearest friends. As recently as last week she enjoyed meeting with them to share the joys and aggravations of raising kids, starting enterprises with their husbands and enjoying retirement.

Mrs. Kerns is survived by her sister Pat Jung of Phoenix, Ariz. and her eight children: Tom Kerns Jr., Ph.D. of Yachats, Jane Stanfield of Cle Elum, Wash., Patricia Kerns of Portland, Bob Kerns of Portland, Mary K. Newson of Pleasant Hill, Will Kerns of Eugene, Fr. John Kerns of Portland and Eugene Police Capt. Peter Kerns of Eugene. She is also survived by 20 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Dr. Thomas A. Kerns and nine-year-old granddaughter Mary Ellen Kerns who died in 2003 from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Arrangements are by Andreason's Cremation & Burial Service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the T.A Kerns MD Endowment, a fund of the Oregon Community Foundation. The endowment supports those in treatment for addiction.

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