Salem – Sockie passed
away peacefully at home on Tuesday, June 29th, at the age of 82.
She was born June 15, 1928 to Dellis Delman and Elizabeth (Schwindt)
Westenhouse, in Lyons, Oregon. Sockie was raised in the Lyons,
Albany and Scio area, graduating from Scio High School. She worked
in her teenage years driving a home delivery milk route, with milk
from her parents’ dairy. In her later years, Sockie drove school
bus for the Scio School District. She worked at Veal’s furniture
factory in Albany and in Canneries in the Salem area. Sockie
worked with her father building homes in the Stayton and Scio
area, finishing the cabinets and painting inside and outside. She
settled in Jefferson, where she built her own home, with
assistance from her father.
Sockie owned and
operated a small acreage known as “Mini Oaks” where she raised
mini lop rabbits, Bantam chickens, Bantam ducks, pigmy goats, as
well as parakeets. She was known as the “Bird Lady” of
Jefferson. While “farming” she did many a painting job in the
Albany, Stayton, Salem and Scio area. Sockie enjoyed both flower
and vegetable gardening, loved rock hunting, trips to the Oregon
Coast and going to the casinos. She was an animal lover and
enjoyed viewing wildlife, and delighted greatly in helping others.
Sockie was preceded in
death by her Father in 1977, Mother in 1993, her brother, Holley
in 2008, sisters-in-laws, Billie in 1990 and Jeanne in 2006. She
is survived by her companion of 28 years, Naomi J. Michael;
Sue Rich, whom she thought of as a daughter, and best
friends and neighbors, James and Bernadine Heglund. Sockie will be
missed by all her friends, as well as many others.
There will be a Memorial
Service on Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 1:30 pm in the Activity
Center at Meadowlark Mobile Manor 2870 Lancaster Dr. SE Salem.
Private burial will be held at Bilyeu Den Cemetery in Scio.
Donations may be made for Hospice Care of the Northwest 1661
Edgewater St. NW #200 Salem, Oregon 97304. Thanks for all the
great care and concerns shown to Sockie by Doctors: Steven Marvel,
Susan P. Corzilius, Charles G. Petrunin, and William Shely.
Serving the family, North
Santiam Funeral Service, Stayton.
