Obituary of LaVerne Craig Kalish

LaVerne was born Inez LaVerne Cummings on January 7, 1918, in Keensburg, Colorado. She was the third of four children, with two brothers, Ken and Bob, and a sister, Lenore. Her family moved to Portland, Oregon, when LaVerne was 8 years of age. She attended high school at Girls Polytechnic High School, where she was student body President her senior year. She attended Oregon State College, but had to leave after one year to return to Portland and begin working. One of her favorite jobs was working at Jantzen Knitting Mills as a swimsuit model and tester. While she was working for Jantzen, her brother, Ken, brought a friend of his, Dwight (Bud) Craig, over for dinner. Bud and LaVerne fell in love and were married on December 24, 1939. They had four children: Jeanne, Jim, Kathy and Debby. Bud passed away in 1968 and LaVerne raised her children alone. In 1971, LaVerne enjoyed a brief flirtation with theater, performing in the Portland Civic Theater's production of The Music Man. She worked as a bookkeeper and accountant for many years, retiring from Multnomah County in 1978. In 1977 LaVerne married Ernie Kalisch and moved to Garibaldi, Oregon. They had many wonderful years working his commercial fishing boat, The Dora Lee. They enjoyed camping and hunting, and exploring the Pacific Northwest. LaVerne also then had the time to explore her passion for painting and became quite well known among the local artistic community. She lost Ernie to cancer in 1984, but did continue her painting and was named Artist of the Month by the Tillamook County Art Association in September, 1988. She also lost her daughter, Jeanne, to cancer in 1990. She moved back to Portland from Garibaldi in 1999 to be closer to family and friends. She loved traveling and took many guided bus tours. She loved to entertain and had friends over for meals and cards often. She lived a very full and active life. LaVerne is survived by one son, two daughters, seven grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. Service Information