Jeanne M Gunter Raigner

Born Jeanne Margaret Gunter to Bertha Anna and Earl Frances Gunter in Portland, Oregon Jeanne arrived home at Christmas time 1928. Jeanne joined her sister Betty June at the family home located in ‘Three Lynx” Oregon. Her parents worked on the Portland General Electric hydroelectric power plant project on the Clackamas River at PGE Camp Eight. He father was the Supply Quartermaster and her mother was the camp cook. Jeanne spent her years of grammar school living in the woods attending a one room schoolhouse. There she encountered much of Oregon’s wildlife, including cougar, lynx, black bear, deer, raccoon, and porcupine. During the winter months she and her buddies could be seen skiing on old hand carved cedar skis down the hill in the camp. During the Great Depression Jeanne gained some ‘half-brothers’ and friends adopted by her family: her cousin Jim Gunter, and a homeless boy named Shirley Barker, who was a lifelong family friend.

Later her family moved to a farm near Estacada, Oregon where she attended Estacada Grade School. During this period Jeanne picked up her lifelong interest in everything “cats”. She often rode the family horse ‘Lady’ and picked apples from the saddle. With the advent of WWII, Jeanne’s family moved to Portland where Jeanne attended Washington High School. Her father Earl worked for Rose City Transit and her mother for Kaiser ship yards. Her family home on SE Stephens Street near Hawthorne Blvd. was a place often filled with guests during the War. Jeanne worked at Manning’s Coffee House in downtown Portland after school running the register and often setting records for carrying 12-14 cups of coffee all at once complete with saucers. Jeanne was active in the USO during WWII and was often found jitterbugging to the big bands.

Jeanne attended business college and later worked for the advertising firm of ‘Foster and Klieser’ in Portland, Later she would meet her 2nd husband Richard Raigner and have her two children Scott and Heidi. Jeanne would later go to work for Al Disdero Lumber Co. in SE Portland and TUMAC commodities of Portland as an Executive Assistant and Credit Manager. It was there that she earned the nickname “Rainy” when Mr. Disdero already had an employee named Jean. The nickname stuck for over 30 years. She was the past president of the Building Materials Association of Portland.

Jeanne retired in 1994 and became a world traveler. She traveled through China, Thailand, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand. She traveled through much Western Europe, Mexico, Central and South America, as well as much of the United States and Puerto Rico. Jeanne was a past member of Eastern Star. She loved football and was a lifelong fan of the Seattle Seahawks. Jeanne passed away recently after a short battle with cancer while watching the Super Bowl.

Jeanne was preceded in death by her sister Betty Ream, cousin Jim Gunter, Shirley Barker and daughter Heidi Louise Cummings. She is survived by her son Scott Raigner of Portland, her niece Marcia Williams of Portland, her nephew Larry (Marsha) Ream of Modesto, California, her grandson Tyler and son-in-law Andy Cummings of Cornelius, Oregon. She is also survived by her kitty Cleo and a large family of nieces and nephews: Randy, Alex , and Nick Daum of St. Helens; Krissy and Leslie Daum of Portland, Melissa Daum, Melahni Dillon, Maurelle and Malik Lampkin of Portland and dear friend Derma Howe of Woodburn, Oregon.