Gwendolyn N. Edwards

Born in Portland to Ray and Marjorie Pratt, Gwen was raised in California and Arizona as her dad moved between construction projects and where her favorite childhood memories were of swimming with friends in the canals and irrigation ditches her dad helped build and summers living in tents in Kings Canyon National Park in California and fishing in the park’s streams.

Gwen attended Alhambra High School in Martinez, California, graduated from the University of Portland 1967 with a BSN degree, and immediately began her career as an ICU nurse at what is now called OHSU in Portland -- a perfect fit for her intellectual fortitude, unflappable nature, and desire to help others.

After first dating Doug just eight days prior to their college graduation they corresponded regularly by mail (cellphones, texting, emails, and social media came much later) while she was in Portland and he was an Air Force lieutenant in Texas, and they were married a year later in 1968.

An Air Force wife always on the move, Gwen enjoyed working in various ICUs and emergency rooms throughout the US for nine years before taking an eight-year sabbatical to travel Europe while living in England where Doug had three consecutive assignments as an Air Force fighter pilot.

Finally, after 24 wonderful years of stateside and overseas living, Gwen and Doug settled in Vancouver in 1991 and have remained there in the same home ever since.

Gwen was a strong, creative, and striking woman whose example others admired. With her boundless curiosity and passion for discovery, Gwen was committed to seeking and savoring the beauty in life while always staying true to herself. She was a naturalist, a historian, an intellect, and an artist (in the garden, on the canvas, and in the kitchen). Above all, she relished her nearly 54 years of marriage with Doug that was marked by constant laughter and genuine partnership.

Gwen’s boldness, zest for life, and enlightened worldview were guiding lights to the many young people in her orbit whom she inspired and guided while emphasizing importance of seizing opportunities and savoring life as it comes.

Gwen is survived by Doug, two sisters, Helen Adeline Force in Lakewood, and Shirley Rasmussen (Elmer) in Portland, a whole bunch of nieces and nephews, her classmates from the University of Portland whose friendship she treasured, and her namesake, Gwen Goldenbaum, (Becky’s granddaughter) in Asheville, North Carolina.

Gwen always hoped to “stay alive long enough to see Trump in jail,” but instead our “Mother Nature” will be buried at Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery after a brief graveside service at 11am on Earth Day, April 22. Gwen’s life will be celebrated later in the year in her glorious English-style garden in Vancouver.

If you would like to donate in Gwen’s memory, please consider the Gwen Edwards Native American Nurse Scholarship at the University of Portland giving.up.edu/gwenedwards