Category: Newspaper Columns

Newspaper columns that I have written for the Fern Ridge Review in Veneta, Oregon and the Creswell Chronicle in Creswell, Oregon. I began writing them for the Fern Ridge Review on August 4, 2010; on December 6, 2012, the Creswell Chronicle began printing them, as well. I am still the Lorane columnist for both papers.

Sweet Lorane Community News, August 5, 2021

August 5, 2021Newspaper Articles, Newspaper Columns, Writings Leave a comment

Fern Ridge-Tribune News
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
August 5, 2021
By Pat Edwards

Jim and I lost a huge part of our lives this past week when we were notified that Leona “Lee” Lyman had quietly passed at the age of 95. Lee entered our lives in the spring of 1993 and the story of our meeting and the strong ties that have bound us together ever since is longer than I can include here, but I want to honor this beautiful and compassionate woman regardless. Our story was recorded on the pages of the weekly Veneta paper, the West Lane News, on September 2, 1993.

Jim and I were home that evening in the spring of 1993 when the telephone rang. I answered it. I didn’t recognize the feminine voice on the other end of the line, but she sounded cultured and kind. She said she was trying to reach Patricia Edwards. When I told her that was my name, she then asked me if I would confirm my middle and maiden names. Again, I told her she was correct, but I was puzzled. She then went on to explain…

She introduced herself as Lee Lyman. She lived in Eugene and told me that she and her first husband, Paul Sowers had adopted a baby girl 30 years ago in Portland… in August of 1963. She also mentioned the name of the hospital. She asked if that held any meaning for me. I felt as though I had been hit by a train. I somehow knew that someday I might get this phone call, but only a few people besides Jim and me knew the story, and after 30 years, it was a huge shock. Our four children did not even know they had a half-sibling.

Lee and Paul named their baby girl, Stacey, and later adopted a son, Walt. When they were old enough, they told the kids about being adopted and assured them that they were chosen to be their own. When Stacey was 5, she told her mom that “I would like to see this lady that ‘borned’ me.” Her search, however, did not begin in earnest until after she was married, living in California, and had children of her own. By then, her adopted father, a former basketball player for the UO, had died and Lee eventually remarried.

To quote from the news article, “Lee admitted that, early on, she had some misgivings about Stacey’s search for her birth mother. Eventually, she accepted that if the birth mother was found, she wouldn’t be losing a daughter, but sharing her.”

That day, true to her word to help Stacey in her search, Lee was the one who was able to find us and bring us into her life as well as her daughter’s. We respected her well-earned position as Stacey’s mother and our families came together in one loving unit from that day forward. Oh, how we are going to miss Lee and her presence in our lives. She was a remarkable woman and Jim and I feel blessed that she was the one who loved and raised the baby I gave birth to so many years ago. We maintain a close and loving relationship with Stacey and her family and all of our children are very close.

Thank you, Lee, for all that you gave by sharing Stacey with us. We love you so, and pray that you rest in peace.

To read our full story, go my website at https://allthingslorane.com and look under the “writings/newspaper articles” links)

Sweet Lorane Community News, July 29, 2021

July 29, 2021Newspaper Columns, , Leave a comment

Fern Ridge Review
Creswell Chronicle
Sweet Lorane Community News
July 29, 2021
By Pat Edwards

Three of Lorane’s long-time residents and friends passed recently and I want to recognize them here.

I was remiss in failing to report Briggie Maley’s passing last May, two months short of his 100th birthday. He and his wife Toby moved to Lorane in 1946. He was a timber faller for Chambers Logging for a number of years before hiring on with Murphy Logging. He retired in 1982. Briggie was active in the Lorane I.O.O.F./Lorane Rebekahs for a number of years as well as the Lorane Christian Church. Both Briggie and Toby were avid golfers and they reluctantly sold their home in Lorane and moved to Cottage Grove in 2005 to be closer to medical providers and the golf courses they loved to play. Toby passed in 2013—they had been married for almost 72 years. They are survived by their children, Pat Adams, Linda Sturtevant, Mike Maley and Jaynie Wiser and grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grands. A Celebration of Life was held for Briggie on July 10.

Jack Graham and his wife Doris moved to North Hill Road, east of Lorane in 1963. Doris died in 2019, and Jack passed at the age of 91 on July 23 of this year. I never got to know them well except for the occasional times they came in our store in the 1980s. A memorial service celebrating them both was held this past weekend.

According to his obituary, Michael “Mike” Atkinson, who died on July 18, 2021, “attended St. Francis High School, which is now Marist, then Oregon State University, where he graduated with a degree in Forestry. While enlisted in the Army, he married Grace Jungwirth in 1963. He was employed at Chickering Surveying, and then worked at Weyerhaeuser, retiring after 39 years.”

Sometime in the 1970s, Mike and Grace, along with his parents, Theron and Trudy, purchased a tree farm located between Lorane and Crow on Territorial Hwy. He and Grace had 5 children. They succeeded in growing not only beautiful trees on the farm, but great kids as well. Mike also donated considerable time to St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Veneta, and he served on the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School Board with Jim in the late 1970s and 1980s. Over the years, he kept active and donated his time time to organizations like Oregon Small Woodlands (OSWA), Western Lane Forest Protection Organization, Oregon Tree Farm System, and other organizations supporting family tree farm growth and forestry stewardship.

“He is preceded in death by Grace Atkinson (d 1997), and survived by his wife Constance, his children Richard and Martin Atkinson, Michele Stowell, Sara Nickel, and Anna Atkinson, and 13 grandchildren, his siblings, Sharon Hurst, Trudie Atkinson, Lorna Pletnikoff, Paul, and Tim Atkinson.”

Briggie, Jack and Michael raised their families and lived separate lives within the community of Lorane, but by doing so, they are etched into its fabric and history. Each will be missed. Our condolences to the families.

Just some reminders—

  • The Lorane Community Potluck is being held on Saturday, August 7, beginning at noon at the Lorane Grange. Doors open at 10 a.m. Bring a main dish, side dish or dessert to share and visit with neighbors and friends, welcome and meet some of our newer residents, and just enjoy being social again.
  • The Lorane Ice Cream Social will be held the next day, on Sunday, August 8, at 1 p.m. on Old Lorane Road in front of the fire station, and enjoy the wonderful ice cream and homemade pies, the live music and entertainment, and participate in the fun family events.
  • The Crow Grange’s Chicken ‘n Pickin’ barbeque (aka Joe’s BarB-Q) will also be held on Saturday, August 7, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Music this year will be provided digitally by the Poodle Creek Pickers and the Green Mountain Boys.
  • The Lorane Community Yard Sale is scheduled for Saturday, August 14. Maps will be available. Look for more details on the Lorane Facebook page.