Mary Alice Parr

Mary Alice was born June 10, 1919 in Pensacola, Florida to Keith and Mary (Oerting) Parr. She was divorced. Mary earned her Masters of Library Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and completed undergraduate work at the University of Indiana. She worked as the head children’s librarian and later a reference librarian at the Allentown Library in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She lived in many different cities and states but eventually settled in Oregon in 1983 to be closer to her grand children. She was a member of the Friends Meeting in Portland, Oregon and Athens, Ohio. She was an adventurous woman, traveling to El Salvador in her sixties and moving to Ohio temporarily in her eighties to help raise a new grandchild. She was an avid reader, partial to history, mysteries and Jane Austen. Mary Alice was a skillful sewer and knitter. Her dress-making helped pay her college tuition and when her grandchildren were young, she sewed most of their clothes. She was a nature lover. She loved Mt. Hood and was very environmentally conscious. She regularly donated to lots of charities and social causes. Most of all, she loved her grandchildren.

Mary Alice is survived by her sons, Michael Hare of Corvallis, OR; James Hare of Prairie Farm, WI; daughters, Gail Hare of Gresham, OR; Martha Kirby of Gresham, OR; sister, Gail Stern of Natchitoches, LA; brothers, Keith Parr of Bloomington, IN; William Parr of Peoria, IL; and 5 grandchildren, Elin, Mary, Wendy, Amber and Owen. She has one great-grandchild on the way, due in April.

In lieu of flowers, Mary Alice's family requests that donations are made to either the Mercy Corps or Heifer International.

Please visit www.batemancarrollfunerals.com to sign her guestbook.

Arrangements under the direction of Bateman Carroll Funeral Home, Gresham, OR.