Ethel Mabel Hill
Date Of Birth: 10/10/1920
Date of Death: 10/23/2013
Ethel Mable Hill, a simple former Kansas girl, very amateur photographer, retired bowler, avid crossword puzzler, and music lover was friend to all who knew her; died peacefully, Wednesday, October 23, 2013 of lymphoma.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 2, 2013 at Sandy Baptist Church 34435 SE Jarl Rd, Boring, Oregon at 1:00 pm; officiated by Pastor Fred Vogel. Burial will take place at Willamette National Cemetery on Monday, November 4 at 10:00 am. Springer and Son, Aloha, OR, is handling the funeral arrangements.
Ethel was born to Newt and Kathleen Shepherd in Independence, KS, on October 10, 1920. Her hometown was Independence, KS, until relocation of the family to Sacramento, CA, during the dustbowl years. Ethel married Lester Fanning in 1939, the couple had two children: Kaye Marlene and David Michael. She was divorced in 1954 while a resident of Tonopah NV. During that time, she met Roy Hill and the couple married in July 1955; creating a mixed family, adding Roy’s son Donnie Rea. The family traveled the west coast until settling in Portland OR, later that year and added two more children: Virginia Kathleen and Mark William, in years to come.
Roy and Ethel loved Oregon, they found both the Portland Metro and LaGrande areas to offer much beauty and excellent quality of life and many employment opportunities. They loved working in the food industry, both restaurant and catering businesses – the customer experience was what delighted them. One could find them working side by side in the kitchen, bantering back and forth, but happy to be together. When retirement offered travel adventures, off they went to visit family and find new roots to their family trees. When Roy passed away in 1997, Ethel enjoyed a quieter life in Sandy, being more involved in her beloved Sandy Baptist church life and community volunteering until health concerns necessitated moving to the Aloha/Hillsboro area, where she enjoyed independent retirement living until her health deteriorated.
At all gatherings, it was Ethel who had the camera in hand, sometimes to the chagrin of her family, but she always wanted a snapshot of herself to commerate the event with a big smile. Ethel was an avid bowler, she enjoyed the exercise and fellowship, the competition was a bonus; she retired from the sport as she neared her 90th birthday as her strength lessened. Crossword puzzles were a daily addiction to Ethel, and they kept her mind “sharp and agile”. Ethel loved music; it brought peace and happiness to her soul, and believed that god listens with a forgiving ear.
Ethel is preceded in death by her husband Roy Elmer; sons Donnie Rae and Mark William. Siblings: Clarence Shepherd, Ribern Shepherd, Eva Hatfield, Charles Shepherd, Helen Burkholder, Herman Shepherd and Patricia Navarre.
Ethel is survived by her family: daughter, Kaye Bingham of Sacramento, CA; son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Nancy Fanning of Loomis, CA; daughter and son-in-law, Virginia and Bill Hamelman of Hillsboro OR; brother, George Shepherd of KS; grandchildren: Bobby Frietag, Eric Frietag, Shelly Freitag, Brian Freitag, John Lawhead, Jennifer Milyko, BJ Hamelman, Cassie Hamelman, and Cindy Fanning; grandniece Rhonda Turner and the many great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.
The family wishes to extend their gratitude to the wonderful nurses and staff at Hospice and Palliative Care Partners of Washington County; Sandy Baptist Church; Springer and Sons Aloha Funeral Home & Crematory; Brentwood Oaks of Aloha and Cornell Estates of Hillsboro plus all of Ethel’s friends and neighbors that offered support and kindness during her long life.
Special Message: Remember me when flowers bloom early in the spring, fall and winter – summer too, and in the fun each season brings. But most of all remember each day, right from the start, I will be forever near, for I live within your heart. (JB Morse)