Life Story for Dorinne McKeown
Dorinne McKeown
After more than two decades, Dorinne and David McKeown are together again. Dorinne passed away Sunday, May 26, 2019 at Providence Brookside Manor. She was 92.
Dorinne was born May 10, 1927 in Hood River, Oregon to Wilber and Goldie Richards. She had a younger brother, Howard, and grew up on her parents’ orchard near the community of Odell, attending Odell schools, and graduating from Odell High School.
Following high school, she attended Oregon State College in Corvallis (now OSU) for a year and then came back to Hood River until her fiancé, David McKeown, returned from service in Europe with the U.S. Army Air Corps at the end of World War II. The couple had been friends since they were pre-school age, were in the same grade at school, and married in 1947.
They moved to Palo Alto, Calif., where David completed his war-interrupted education, graduating from Menlo College, and attending San Jose State. Dorinne had many fond memories of their years there, making many friends and exploring a less frenetic and more rural California.
They returned to Hood River in 1950, when David began managing his family’s orchard. Two children were born, daughter, Davinne, and son, Mitchell. Dorinne concentrated on the home, the family, the orchard, cooking and baking, gardening, and volunteering. She also was involved in Home Extension, and became a very active 4-H leader, and a volunteer at the Hood River County Fair.
In 1968, she was hired by the Hood River County School District as an instructional aide. It was work she very much enjoyed for a number of years, first at (the then) Mid Valley Upper Elementary, and then at Wy’east Junior High School.
Travel called, though, and as David’s role at the orchard grew less, the two made trips throughout the continental U.S. and Hawaii, and traveled to Ireland and other parts of Great Britain, and to a number of European countries. Dorinne also was very involved in P.E.O., Chapter AE, for more than 50 years, and volunteered with several local organizations. She loved preparing and eating good food, growing and appreciating beautiful flowers, enjoying nature, traveling, and watching wildlife and birds. Additional retirement plans were cut short when David passed away in 1998.
Dogs were significant in Dorinne’s life--often a mid-sized family dog, and a “special” little dog. Family members were accustomed to hearing Dorinne’s approaching footsteps, followed by the staccato of small paws. Most recently, she was entranced by Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and had shared life with two over the years, regretting deeply that age prevented her from adopting a third.
In 2010, she moved to Providence Down Manor, where she liked living independently, reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and enjoying trips, restaurant visits, other residents and the staff, and the senior village’s amenities. Due to health problems, she moved to Providence Brookside Manor in 2018.
Friends were always important to Dorinne. She enjoyed frequent get-togethers with a group of friends since grade school, as well as seeing and staying in contact with other childhood and school friends. There were a number of very special families with whom she shared a close relationship across generations—knowing grandparents, parents, children, and even grandchildren. She loved the friendships developed in P.E.O. And she enjoyed becoming friends, and making lasting connections with, more recent contacts she met in various ways, including at Down Manor and Brookside Manor. She also loved seeing former students, her 4-H “kids,” and people she had worked with at the school district.
Dorinne was predeceased by her parents; husband, David; brother, Howard; numerous relatives and close friends, and beloved pets.
She is survived by daughter and son-in-law, Davinne McKeown-Ellis and Mike Ellis; son, Mitchell; friend Martha Goe; several cousins and cousins in-law; a scattering of other relatives; and very special, long-time friends whom she considered family.
Service are planned for 2:00 p.m., Saturday June 29th at Anderson's Tribute Center (Funerals • Receptions • Cremations) 1401 Belmont Avenue, Hood River, Oregon 97031. She will be interred alongside David at Idlewild Cemetery.
Any memorials in her name could go the Hood River County Education Foundation, 1011 Eugene St. Hood River, OR, 97031, or Hood River Adopt a Dog, P.O. Box 475, Hood River, OR, 97031.
Visit www.AndersonsTributeCenter.com to leave a note of condolence for the family.
After more than two decades, Dorinne and David McKeown are together again. Dorinne passed away Sunday, May 26, 2019 at Providence Brookside Manor. She was 92.
Dorinne was born May 10, 1927 in Hood River, Oregon to Wilber and Goldie Richards. She had a younger brother, Howard, and grew up on her parents’ orchard near the community of Odell, attending Odell schools, and graduating from Odell High School.
Following high school, she attended Oregon State College in Corvallis (now OSU) for a year and then came back to Hood River until her fiancé, David McKeown, returned from service in Europe with the U.S. Army Air Corps at the end of World War II. The couple had been friends since they were pre-school age, were in the same grade at school, and married in 1947.
They moved to Palo Alto, Calif., where David completed his war-interrupted education, graduating from Menlo College, and attending San Jose State. Dorinne had many fond memories of their years there, making many friends and exploring a less frenetic and more rural California.
They returned to Hood River in 1950, when David began managing his family’s orchard. Two children were born, daughter, Davinne, and son, Mitchell. Dorinne concentrated on the home, the family, the orchard, cooking and baking, gardening, and volunteering. She also was involved in Home Extension, and became a very active 4-H leader, and a volunteer at the Hood River County Fair.
In 1968, she was hired by the Hood River County School District as an instructional aide. It was work she very much enjoyed for a number of years, first at (the then) Mid Valley Upper Elementary, and then at Wy’east Junior High School.
Travel called, though, and as David’s role at the orchard grew less, the two made trips throughout the continental U.S. and Hawaii, and traveled to Ireland and other parts of Great Britain, and to a number of European countries. Dorinne also was very involved in P.E.O., Chapter AE, for more than 50 years, and volunteered with several local organizations. She loved preparing and eating good food, growing and appreciating beautiful flowers, enjoying nature, traveling, and watching wildlife and birds. Additional retirement plans were cut short when David passed away in 1998.
Dogs were significant in Dorinne’s life--often a mid-sized family dog, and a “special” little dog. Family members were accustomed to hearing Dorinne’s approaching footsteps, followed by the staccato of small paws. Most recently, she was entranced by Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and had shared life with two over the years, regretting deeply that age prevented her from adopting a third.
In 2010, she moved to Providence Down Manor, where she liked living independently, reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and enjoying trips, restaurant visits, other residents and the staff, and the senior village’s amenities. Due to health problems, she moved to Providence Brookside Manor in 2018.
Friends were always important to Dorinne. She enjoyed frequent get-togethers with a group of friends since grade school, as well as seeing and staying in contact with other childhood and school friends. There were a number of very special families with whom she shared a close relationship across generations—knowing grandparents, parents, children, and even grandchildren. She loved the friendships developed in P.E.O. And she enjoyed becoming friends, and making lasting connections with, more recent contacts she met in various ways, including at Down Manor and Brookside Manor. She also loved seeing former students, her 4-H “kids,” and people she had worked with at the school district.
Dorinne was predeceased by her parents; husband, David; brother, Howard; numerous relatives and close friends, and beloved pets.
She is survived by daughter and son-in-law, Davinne McKeown-Ellis and Mike Ellis; son, Mitchell; friend Martha Goe; several cousins and cousins in-law; a scattering of other relatives; and very special, long-time friends whom she considered family.
Service are planned for 2:00 p.m., Saturday June 29th at Anderson's Tribute Center (Funerals • Receptions • Cremations) 1401 Belmont Avenue, Hood River, Oregon 97031. She will be interred alongside David at Idlewild Cemetery.
Any memorials in her name could go the Hood River County Education Foundation, 1011 Eugene St. Hood River, OR, 97031, or Hood River Adopt a Dog, P.O. Box 475, Hood River, OR, 97031.
Visit www.AndersonsTributeCenter.com to leave a note of condolence for the family.