Obituary of Lois Marilyn Bortle

Lois Marilyn Wold was born September 1, 1934 to Carl and Ida Wold. She was the second youngest of nine children. She was full-blooded Norwegian. Lois attended Parkland School through grade nine and afterwards attended Clover Park High School. She did well in her studies and made the honor roll. As a teenager, she babysat for her older siblings and for neighbors and picked berries to earn money, which she used for school clothes, camera film, music and movies. Lois loved music, and was always playing the piano or the accordion. When she would get together with her girlfriends, she would play the piano and they would sing the songs of the day. Lois loved to read. She stated that her idea of heaven was a free afternoon and a good book. After graduation, Lois took a summer class in bookkeeping, which lead to a secretarial job at the Internal Revenue Service. One day when her older brother Gordy was out and about, he ran into his friend Ken, and he told Ken to stop in for a cup of coffee. Ken later reported that while he didn't get the coffee, he got Lois instead. Lois states that she fell for Ken when he played the guitar and sang "Yodeling Crazy" and "Why Don't You Love me Like You Used to Do?" They dated, became engaged and were married on August 21, 1954. They moved into their own home, which was at the time in a remote area of Parkland. Between September 1955 and March 1960, Ken and Lois had four children - Paula, Stephen, Carolyn and Christine. Between work and family, there were family trips to the ocean and to Disneyland. Ken had a large garden, and Lois often canned vegetables and fruit. She made pies, pickles, relish and jam. She reports that happiness was when Ken didn't put in a big garden and she didn't have to can beans anymore. Lois was very artistic. She worked in a craft shop for a couple of years, taught decoupage classes, sewed, did needle point, and took painting classes. In her later years, she discovered colored pencils, and frequently made art pages for her family. Eventually, Carolyn and Christine married and had children. Both Carolyn and Christine worked so Lois frequently babysat. She loved having them over, and the grandchildren loved the grandmotherly attention she gave them and playing outside in the woods. When Ken retired in 1992, they made trips to Reno and to the ocean. Ken surf fished, while Lois preferred to walk the beaches, looking for shells and driftwood. She used these to make beautiful seashell pictures. In 2001, Ken had a stroke. His speech was affected and he lost the use of his right arm. Lois nursed him back to health and cared for his needs until her passing. Lois was the last of her generation. She was preceded in death by two nieces, two nephews, two daughters and a grandson. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, two children and 19 great-grandchildren.