Carolyn Margaret Haley

Carolyn Margaret O'Brien was born in Portland, OR on April 22, 1932, the oldest child of David and Helen O'Brien. She spent most of her childhood in SE Portland until her family moved to a farm just outside of Clatskanie OR in 1945. Carolyn attended Sunday school and church during her youth, although only her father was a Christian at the time. Carolyn herself believed she was a Christian and so did everyone else. When she was 14 years old, she realized that she was not, and accepted Christ as her Savior. After her graduation as valedictorian of Clatskanie Union High School Class of 1949, Carolyn decided to forego her plans for further training and stayed home to care for her seriously ill mother and 4 younger siblings. During this year she saw her mother come to a saving knowledge of Christ and receive miraculous healing from tuberculosis. It was also a time when she herself faced her responsibility as a Christian and yielded her life completely to the Lord and felt God's hand on her life calling her for missionary service. She studied at Multnomah School of the Bible where she met the love of her life, James Haley, who was studying there also after having served with the Army Air Force in post World War II duty in Japan. Jim and Carolyn were wed at Delena Baptist Church on June 18, 1953, and were happily married for 60 years, 2 months, and 20 days. After Carolyn completed a course at Biola School of Missionary Medicine in Los Angeles, Jim and Carolyn were appointed in 1956 to serve as missionaries in northwest Argentina with the CBFMS (known today as WorldVenture). Carolyn served with her husband in Argentina for 34 years helping to plant several churches and strengthen a number of others. During those years she gave birth to six sons, of whom, four survive to this day. Jim and Carolyn retired in 1991, after 6 terms of service in Argentina and returned to their home in SE Portland. In retirement, they helped start an Hispanic congregation in NE Baptist Church and were also active members of Gateway Church. Carolyn continued active involvement in the NE Baptist hispanic congregation as treasurer until her hospitalization this July. Jim would say, “You can take the girl out of the farm, but not the farm out of the girl”. She loved to garden roses and vegetables. She loved her family dearly, enjoying each one and delighted in working on scrapbooks for them. In May 2010, Carolyn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. For the ensuing 3 years she continued to live fully, declaring often that “God is good, and my illness does not change that!” She passed away on Sept. 8, 2013 surrounded by family in her eldest son's home in Beaverton, OR. She is survived by her husband, Jim; her brothers, David O'Brien and Michael O'Brien, and sister, Ellen Clibbon; her sons, Tom, Timothy, Mark, and Jon; three daughters-in-law, Karen Ann, Karen Joy, and Kathy; five grandchildren, David (wife, Sarah), Becky, Stephen, Alexander, and Nacho; and great-grandson, Everett. Her life was rich; her service, fruitful; her legacy, enduring; her reward, eternal. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Iglesia Hispana Bautista, c/o Northeast Baptist Church, 6701 NE Prescott Street, Portland, OR 97218