Various lengths of this obituary have been placed in the Oregonian,
The Lewiston Morning Tribune, the Baker City Herald and the Record-Courier.

Bea Jacobs died Thursday, March 12, 2009, three days before her 94th birthday. Until the first 2009 she was living a very active life at the home she had shared with her daughter Judy Litchfield for many years. Congestive heart failure set in and she quickly declined, moving to the hospital then a hospice in the last week of her life. She passed away surrounded by three generations of her loving family. We were blessed to have her with us for so long.

Beatrice Catherine Lorang Jacobs was born in Spokane, Washington on March 15, 1915. She lived through two World Wars and became very familiar with rationing, red cents and the frugal lifestyle required at the time. The family moved to Portland, Oregon and she attended Grant High School, then moved to Lewiston, Idaho where she graduated from Lewiston High School in 1933. There she met and married Richard Earl Jacobs in September 1938 and became a full-time mother as five children were born to them by 1951.

Widowed at age 37 in 1952, she kept the family together and raised her five children: She sustained her family by taking in laundry and ironing, babysitting, establishing Bea’s Bakery and then cooking at the St. Stanislaus grade school for their hot lunch program. Bea was a renowned vocalist and gifted pianist whose voice and music served the community of Lewiston and her church choir for many decades.

In 1967, Bea moved, with her youngest daughter Susan, to Portland, Oregon. She worked as a retail clerk in downtown Portland department stores for many years and retired in May 1984 to enjoy her family and friends. She and her sister Kay traveled to such places as Greece, Rome and Yellowstone Park. She flew with her son Gale on many exciting trips in his airplane. Bea was the ever present grandmother, always ready with a happy smile and a warm embrace. She became the matriarch of her extended family and lived life to its fullest. Bea kept a descriptive journal of her and her family’s life events. Her mind was sharp to the end.

Bea was a lifelong Catholic and a mass of Christian Burial will be said at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, in Portland, Oregon, on Monday, March 16th at 11:00am. On July 11, 2009 her ashes will be flown by her son and daughter to her father’s family ranch in Genesee, Idaho to be honored at a family reunion.

She will then be flown to Lewiston, Idaho by Gale and Judy for a memorial service and then her ashes will be buried next to her loving husband Dick and son Lanny at Normal Hill Cemetery.  Her grave stone next to her husband's has been waiting for her for for 57 years.  Dick was the only man in her life.  Bea and Judy loved to fly with Gale and this last memorial flight will be a fitting tribute to their mother.

Bea was preceded in death by her mother and father, Blanche and Barney Lorang, husband Dick and son Lanny. She is survived by four children, Gale “Jake” Jacobs (Joan) of Baker City, OR., Judy Litchfield of Portland, OR., Karen Lauby (Gary) of Renton, WA. and Susan Montgomery (Terry) of Anaconda, MT., eight grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her two sisters, Kathleen Conroy of Portland, OR. and Bernice Bartel (Bill) of Ridgefield, WA. and a large extended family.

All family and friends are invited to join us in Bea’s celebration of life.
 

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