Wasco-Statewide County OR Archives Obituaries.....Colcord, Cecile Emily February 23, 2006
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 20, 2006, 12:40 am

The Dalles Chronicle, February 28, 2006
     Cecile Emily Colcord, 90, a resident of Tillamook, died at her home on 
Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006.
     She was born Nov. 28, 1915, to Glenn and Emily Terry, in Tillamook. Her 
parents, expecting a boy, named her after her Dad and when she was in 
elementary school she asked her mother if she might add an “e” on the end, so 
she would have a girl’s name, she agreed.
     She graduated from Tillamook High School in 1933, moving to Portland to 
live with relatives while she attended Northwest Business College. She could 
boast typing 90 words a minute and taking 120 words per minute in shorthand.   
Her dream had been to be a court reporter, but she ended up working for the 
Forest Service in Portland.
     Later she was detailed to Eugene and there she met Doane S. Colcord and 
they married July 3, 1938, at her parents’ home in Tillamook. She refused to 
use the word “obey” in her wedding vows, substituting instead “cherish.”      
Shortly thereafter, they moved to The Dalles. There they made their home until 
1997. They had two children, Terry Doane (who died at age seven in 1947 as a 
result of a car accident), and Diane Emily. 
     She was a stay-at-home mom until her daughter was in junior high, when 
she began working at a local CPA’s office during tax time.
     She was active in PTA, her PEO chapter BF and community projects, 
including participating in a city beautification committee.
     The most involved and longlasting project was to save Old St. Peter’s 
Landmark from demolition. She and a group of local citizens, worked tirelessly 
to raise the money to buy the former Catholic church in 1971, and she took on 
most of the day-to-day duties of running the Landmark for the next 26 years, 
coordinating volunteers, helping with weddings, overseeing maintenance of the 
building and grounds and running a thrift shop in the lower level for the 
first ten years.
     She had many talents, was an excellent seamstress; taught herself leather 
tooling, copper tooling and ceramics where she not only made a set of dishes 
and mugs, but taught five-year old Diane how to throw clay and make pottery.   
She knit sweaters and made chocolate donuts. She did Hungarian embroidery, 
made beauty out of everything from tin cans to feathers, driftwood to cones 
and pods. She loved to garden and kept the yard around their home so well 
cared for that people would come by just to enjoy it.
     After their son Terry died, a close neighbor taught her how to weave to 
help get through the grief. She loved animals and, through the years, helped 
her daughter raise cats, ducks and guinea pigs. She was good with finances and 
very practical, but taught her daughter that once in awhile she should buy 
something “just for your soul.”
     The loved to go out dancing or cut the rug in the living room; go on 
picnics gathering pine cones or go on trips to see new sights.
     After her daughter retired from the government in 1995 and moved back 
home, they moved back to Tillamook.
     Even as dementia took hold, she found beauty all around her, from the 
flowers and birds to the smile of a good-looking fellow.
     She is survived by her daughter, Diane Colcord; two nephews, Kurt 
Nielsen, Larry Payne and their families.
     She was preceded in death by husband, Doane, of 54 years on Oct. 1, 1992; 
her son, Terry; her parents; her brother Glenn Terry Jr., and sister Helen 
Terry Nielsen.
     A memorial service will be held Friday, March 3, at 1 p.m. at 
Congregational Church, 111 E. 5th St., The Dalles with Rev. Karl Vercouteren 
officiating. Spencer, Libby & Powell Funeral Home in care of arrangements.
     Donations may be made to Old St. Peter’s Landmark, PO Box 882, The 
Dalles, OR 97058, Tillamook Hospice, 1000 3rd St, Tillamook, OR 97141 or a 
charity of choice.


Additional Comments:
Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, 
Oregon, Dan Spatz, Editor (e-mail dated 3/7/2006).


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