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IRENE KERKMAN (prepared by Annie Jarrell) |
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Irene lives here in Forest Grove with her daughter, Janis Brickey. Irene has been a member of Mt. Olive for the last five years or so. She came as a girl from Minnesota to Hillsboro, OR in 1946. In June of 1948 she met the love of her life, Donald Kerkman and fireman, a Lieutenant at the Aloha Fire Department. After forty of marriage, Donald died, 10-27-1986. Kerkman’s have four children: 1. Judy Kaphammer who works for Perma Post in Hillsboro and is a member of Mt. Olive Church. 2. Randy Kerkman who lives in Austin, Texas and is a Director of Christian Education in a Lutheran Church there. 3. Janis Brickey who is a caregiver at the Alzheimer Dementia facility behind McDonalds in Forest Grove, OR. 4. Rick Kerkman who lives in Portland and delivers pet products. Irene was a homemaker and baby-sat in her home professionally until around 1980 when she went to work for the Rogers Organ Company in Hillsboro. She is a mover. Irene has moved ten times in the past eleven years. During this eleven years she lived for a time at the Elms, but this past year, when her health worsened, she went to live with Jan and they help each other. In the early 70’s Irene took up painting, a hobby she excels in using oils, pastels, and water colors. The very first oil she did as a novice painter was of a piece of driftwood. It’s a lovely small picture that she was offered $300 for twice. She couldn’t bear to part with her first effort, even though, through the years she has painted many large, excellent pictures, many of them seascapes.
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