Our mother, Carol Lucille, entered the world in Portland, Oregon on July 12, 1930 as the only child to Ray and Trudy Beall. Mom’s early years were spent in Portland, then the family moved to Astoria for a few years. Eventually they moved back to Portland where she graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1948.
Nursing school was the next stop for Mom, but before she was done she saw and fell in love with a strapping young sailor, Wilbur (Bill) Edens. The story is that Mom was having coffee with friends in NW Portland when dad walked in. She leaned over and told her friends, “see that handsome man standing by the door? I am going to marry him some day!”. Her friends, astonished said, “Carol, you haven’t even met him yet!”.
Well….they met, and her prophesy was accurate; Mom and Dad married on October 14th, 1950 and she embarked on her most important career - being a homemaker and mother. Blessed with four hungry mouths to feed, the first was Ken, born in 1953; followed by Wes, born in 1955; then came Bill, who arrived in 1958, and last was Jeff in 1962.
As if being a busy mother of four was not demanding enough, just before Christmas in 1963 Mom fell ill to Guillian Barre’ Syndrome, which caused complete temporary paralysis and almost took her life. Grandma Trudy and Aunt Lois stepped in to help with the four busy boys. Before Mom was well enough to resume her responsibilities, she had to relearn how to use all of her motor skills. Hospitalized just before Christmas, she was not able to return home until just before Easter of the following year. Major illness struck again in 1968 when Mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer but she was pretty tough and she bounced back, making a complete recovery.
While my brothers and I were still young, Dad was often traveling for work so Mom had to find ways to entertain us. On one such trip, Mom planned an adventure with Ken, Bill and I to the World’s Fair in Seattle. The trip, in October of 1962, happened to be the day of the infamous Columbus Day Storm. We remember the space needle swaying back and forth and witnessed Seattle darkened as electricity went out across the city.
Stories of less perilous but equally fun day trips with Mom included drives to the beach - four boys, a loaf of bread, some lunch meat and a bag of apples left us with great memories of times spent together.
And Mom was not afraid to load up the 1962 Oldsmobile wagon with a tent, cooler, food and supplies for camping. She taught us boys how to set-up a campsite and have it ready for Dad join us after he was done with work.
A sweet memory of Mom was shared by Bill, who remembers having eye surgery in Providence Hospital as a small child. Terrified in a hospital alone, both eyes covered with patches, he remembers Mom coming each day to feed him and read stories to him. Another sweet memory of mine, as I remember sitting by the piano when I was very young, listening to mom playing Fur Elise.
But raising four boys was not always sweet, and all of us boys will say that it was best not to cross Mom or there would be consequences! I remember in high school, on St. Patrick’s Day, mom was in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone. Ken, a junior in high school, was the linebacker on the Parkrose football team. He came upstairs and noticed that mom wasn’t wearing green. Sneaking up behind mom, he pinched her under the ribs. Immediately I saw mom instinctively back-hand Ken with her left arm and I saw him go flying backwards into the stairwell. My jaw hit the floor! No one EVER pinched mom again for not wearing green!
When she was not in the kitchen cooking sacks of potatoes or pots of Texas Hash (or whatever else it took to fill up four hungry boys), Mom found enjoyment in working on jigsaw puzzles. Of course, we boys turned this relaxing activity for mom into sport by each vying for the honor of placing the last piece in the puzzle, even if it meant stealing a piece of the puzzle and hiding it until the very end!
As we grew, Mom’s commitment to support each of us in our pursuits was obvious. Whether it was watching Bill compete in a gymnastics meet, cheering for Ken playing football, attending our little league games, or traveling wherever necessary to enjoy Jeff’s cello playing in musical events - Mom was there cheering for and encouraging us boys in whatever we were doing.
And there were lots of family outings to the Roy family ranch where playing the guitar around the campfire became a weekly event. Mom liked to tell the story of one such outing where apparently Dad was ready to leave, and she was slow to get to the car, so he left her there overnight to the dismay of Bill Jr. who was worried about who would cook breakfast!
But as a mother’s bittersweet job is to ‘work herself out of a job’, we boys eventually grew and made lives of our own. During this season of her life, Mom began accompanying Dad to his work at the Steamfitter’s Training Center and to his annual trips to Purdue. She helped her friend Betty do flowers for weddings in addition to their frequent get-togethers to play music.
Traveling was always something that both Mom and Dad enjoyed. In 1983 they went with Betty and Robin Roy on an RV trip to Kentucky to promote Betty’s father’s book about life in coal country. Then after dad retired, they took a trip to Hawaii, visited Ken and Marcia when they lived in California and Florida. They also visited family in Montana, and were able to attend the Grand Old Oprey in Nashville. They bought a time-share in Ocean Park, Washington and spent a couple of weeks there every year. Mom thoroughly enjoyed time on the beach, searching for agates or other beach treasures. Mom’s love of the beach remained throughout her life.
As grandchildren began arriving, Mom loved and enjoyed time with her grandchildren. Their home was often the center for family gatherings that involved dad on the guitar or banjo, mom on the washboard, and lots of bluegrass or country gospel music.
There was a season of life for Mom and Dad in which they took care of their aging parents. Mom did this with a great attitude - it was a wonderful life lesson for those of us watching. We learned from both Mom and Dad that caring for your parents was a privilege as well as a responsibility.
In 2005 Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, but again she was tough and seemed to endure the surgery and recuperation with strength and endurance. I can hear her reply when we would ask her how she was doing……“I am doing the best I can with what I got.” Mom loved to laugh; her dry sense of humor and one-liner ‘zingers’ were a part of her life up until the very end.
In her later years, she began knitting caps for Dornbecher Children’s Hospital. At last count she had made and donated over 1,000 caps!
And in 2013, Mom endured what no mother ever wants to experience - the loss of her eldest son, Ken. Thankfully she was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s at this time; God’s mercy in this kept her from having to endure the full extent of his loss.
So how do we sum up the heritage that Mom passed along? She was not a person who had a professional career. But the sum total of her contribution, both as a faithful wife and as a loving mother, is a wide-spread legacy of love and commitment. Mom openly showed all of us boys love; there were plenty of hugs and kisses to go around. And for me, mom’s demonstration for how to love became part of my being. Like the stone that leaves its ripples upon the water, her love spread. Her sons all became loving fathers, passing along a legacy of love that her grandchildren have benefitted from, and their children will benefit from as well.
Mom dearly loved Dad, her “honeypot”. They had their vows renewed at a 50th Anniversary celebration, and at the time of dad’s passing, she was married to Dad for almost 67 years.
Carol Lucille Beall loved her family; her husband Bill, her four boys, her 14 grand children and her four great grandchildren. And, she was loved in return. She will be missed, but never forgotten!
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.skylinememorialgardens.com for the Edens family.
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