Viola Nybakke

1914 - 2006

Viola Nybakke died peacefully this October 23 at Hospice at the age of 92. Her smiling, warm, loving nature obscured a strong determination and Christian faith that led her from her birth in a sod house on a homestead in the Montana plains to a college degree, a rewarding teaching career, and a successful family life. She was born Viola Laurena Larson on February 20, 1914 in Sydney, Montana. Her pregnant mother had crossed the Yellowstone River before it froze over for the winter so that Viola could be delivered by a doctor in his combination home and "hospital".

A few years later, her family began a series of moves, ending up in Silverton, Oregon when Viola was age 10. Her father, John Larson, worked at a lumber mill in town while her mother, Lena, raised chickens and took care of the home. Viola so excelled at Silverton High School, especially in Latin and geometry, that she earned a scholarship to Pacific Lutheran University, known then as Pacific Lutheran College. While attending PLC, her singing talents won her a place on the school's prestigious "Choir of the West".

Her teaching career started in 1934, spanning a period of 30 years. She taught in small Oregon schools such as Monitor, Whiskey Hill, Hubbard, Dayton, and Aurora plus large schools in Redondo Beach, California, and Portland, Oregon. In the early years, she even taught her own two children, John and Phyllis, in a one-room school house.

In 1935, a young man from Minnesota, Clifford Nybakke, journeyed out West to Silverton to get a job in the lumber mill. He heard about a pretty school teacher in town and finally after meeting her, he asked her one day, "Do you suppose you could marry a guy like me?" After a long pause, she laughingly answered, "Well yes, if he's not too much like you." They were married June 14, 1936.

In the years that followed, Clifford and Viola bought a series of farms and a filbert orchard, parlaying that into retirement homes in Spicer, Minnesota, Mesa, Arizona, and Woodburn, Oregon. They worked hard to be sure that their two children each obtained a college education. Son John earned his Master's Degree in Counseling and Guidance at Lewis and Clark College. He worked in Oregon schools and also international schools overseas. Their daughter Phyllis earned a Medical Degree and a Pediatric Fellowship. She practices pediatrics in Longview, WA.

Viola was baptized by a Lutheran circuit rider pastor at age 4 in Montana. She was confirmed at Silverton's Trinity Lutheran Church at age 14. She remained active in the Lutheran Church, playing the piano and teaching Sunday school. She joined Emmanuel Lutheran Church when she moved to Longview two years ago. Her great granddaughter, Miller Viola Harman, the fourth generation of Nybakke women, was baptized there last fall.

Viola's husband, Clifford, preceded her in death on January 11, 1990. She is survived by her son, John Nybakke and his wife, Jan of Astoria, OR; daughter, Phyllis Cavens and her husband Travis; granddaughter, Sonja Harman and her husband Aaron; and great-granddaughter, Miller Viola Harman, all of Longview, WA; and grandson, Derek Cavens and his wife, Kate of Red Bank, New Jersey.

Services will be held at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Longview, Washington on Friday, October 27, 2006 at 2 p.m. Memorial gifts can be made to Northwest Medical Teams at www.nwmti.org. Steele Chapel At Longview Memorial Park is in charge of arrangements.