Obituary of Louise Hartley Weidlich

LOUISE HARTLEY BARNES WEIDLICH Louise was born July 18, 1922 in the New England whaling village of New Bedford, Massachusetts to Homer Francis Barnes, a teacher and administrator, and his wife Mary Frances, an author and inventor. They moved to Hudson, Ohio with her younger sister Virginia in the mid 1920's. In 1930, the family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii where Homer was Principal and then Headmaster of Kamehameha Schools. She graduated in 1940 from Oak Grove School for Girls, Vassalboro, Maine, where she cultivated a love of skiing as well as her continuing love of horses. She then attended Stephens College and Pomona, graduating in 1944 with her degree in Art, another passion of hers. In late 1943 or early 1944, George Weidlich met Mother in the commissary of Pomona where she was the "salad girl," and he knew she was the one. He overwhelmed her with letters from his locations in Texas, France, and Germany, with one purpose in mind, to win her over. It worked. On December 21, 1945, the day he was discharged from the Army, Dad and Mom were married by a Justice of the Peace in Olympia, Washington with three Occupational Therapists as witnesses. In 1946 they moved to Walla Walla, Washington for Dad to attend Whitman, mother working as an Occupational Therapist. In 1949, Dad graduated from Whitman and they moved to Portland, Oregon, where Mother worked at the Veteran's Hospital until 1959. The family eventually grew to five. Michael Barnes Weidlich was born on August 5, 1957, Richard Hartley Weidlich was born on June 9, 1959, After Richard was born, Dad's Aunt Cora said, "and now you just need a little girl." Right on cue, Susan Virginia was born on August 13, 1964, and Mom and Dad were overjoyed. Mother loved her job, but felt the pressures of working and raising two children were great enough to warrant leaving her job and becoming a full-time wife and mother. That did not last long, as they began acquiring rental properties as a side business in addition to Dad's full-time teaching position with the Beaverton Schools. Eventually Dad left teaching to maintain their buildings full time and Mom assumed the role of manager. They were still managing the apartments up until a few years ago! The upheaval of the sixties and her parent's active political life fermented in Mother until she began a long period of civic service. Her varied interests included Model Cities, South Auditorium site demolition, Historical Portland home preservation, Nixon visiting China, and hundreds of others. She also ran for political office, including the Portland School Board, Multnomah County Commission, IED Board, and others. Through her organization, Mothers for Children, she was constantly raising awareness to the people of Portland the various causes and concerns that she felt threatened the way of life here. She had a lifelong love of horses, beginning as a small child, and this was a constant throughout her life. It was rekindled after her daughter Susan was of an age to ride, and the family still has horses. Her roses have won first and second place many times for the Portland Rose Show. She fought tirelessly for efforts to see that the Columbia River Gorge was not destroyed by development. Other interests included antique cars, barbershop quartets, Norman Leyden Pops concerts with the Oregon Symphony, going to the Oregon Coast and yearly trips to visit her sister's Vacation Camp, Montecito-Sequoia in the Sequoia National Forest of California. Diabetes was a constant battle for her and it eventually compromised her tireless energy and she and George moved into Assisted Living in 2009. With improvements to her medical care, she was more or less comfortable until her passing, though she did suffer a broken hip and shoulder and some infections. We were all so grateful for the wonderful care she received during these years. She is survived by her husband, George, her sons Michael and Richard, her daughter Susan Weidlich Andersen, her sister, Virginia Barnes, her grandchildren Scott and Emily Weidlich and Olivia, Parker and Grant Andersen. President: Mothers for Children and Neighborhood Protective Association. Member: Daughters of the American Revolution, Portland Rose Society, Oregon Apartment House Association, Friends of the Columbia River Gorge. She most recently attended Multnomah Presbyterian Church in Portland. Service Information