Gladys Lorraine Shulke Cooper Simmons
aka “Babe”, Lorrie, Lorraine
A memorial service will be held at the First Christian Church, 2231 19th Street Forest Grove, OR 97116 on Saturday, November 7 at 1:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her name to "The Disabled Veterans of America”.
Lorraine Shulke died peacefully at home on Oct.26, 2009 in LaCenter WA following a lengthy battle with pneumonia. Lorrie was born on May 30, 1923 in Silver Lake WA to Gladys (Vining) and Robert Shulke. When she was two, they moved to Castle Rock WA; where later she accepted Christ as her Savior. In 1937, the family moved to Gaston OR. Lorrie (Babe) graduated from Yamhill High School in 1941.
Following graduation, she worked as a nurse’s aide before enlisting in the Marines in 1943. Her Marine picture was used in the Portland enlistment office to entice young men to join the war effort. Following boot camp in North Carolina, she was transferred to Camp Pendleton to work as a Teletype operator until she was discharged in 1945.
During a short stay in a military hospital she met a Navy patient, James W. Cooper, who had been injured at Anzio, Italy. They were married for nearly 35 years until he died of cancer in 1980. They had four children: Karen, Sandra, Jim and Joni.
After leaving the service, Lorrie graduated from Pacific University in 1955 majoring in Sociology and Journalism. She set a great example completing college while pregnant and the mother of 2 young children. She taught in 4 states and concluded her 28-year teaching career at Gales Creek Elementary and Neil Armstrong in Forest Grove OR.
She loved to travel to foreign countries and enjoyed many cruises to the Caribbean and Mexican Riviera. She enjoyed knitting, doing word puzzles, creating ceramics, bowling and sewing clothes; including formal gowns for Sandy and wedding dresses for Karen and Joni.
She was preceded in death by her first husband, Jim Cooper; her second husband, Si Simmons; parents Gladys and Robert Shulke; sisters Dorothy LaSalle and Mary Shulke and one great-grandson Jacen Deatherage.
She will be remembered for being observant, slow to speak, quick to lend a helping hand when asked, hard working, creative and easy going. Her quick wit and feisty spirit amused and entertained many throughout her life; but especially tickled doctors and nurses during her last years.
She is survived by her sister Lillian Reiley of Forest Grove; brother Floyd Shulke of Castle Rock; her children: Karen Marshall (Terry) of Forest Grove; Sandy Bjorkman (Keith) of LaCenter WA; Jim Cooper (Sally) of Peoria OR and Joni Smith (Dennis) of Newark NJ. In addition, she is survived by 7 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and was looking forward to a great great granddaughter in November.
A memorial service will be held at the First Christian Church in Forest Grove on Saturday, November 7 at 1:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her name to "The Disabled Veterans of America”.
