1922 - 2020
Sarah Mae Byrd went home to be home with her Lord August 5, 2020. Known as Mae to family and friends, she was born to Levi Nelson Locken and Otomie Gladys nee Osborne October 9, 1922 in Hominy, Oklahoma. The family lived in various places in Oklahoma until 1936 when, seeking refuge from the Dust Bowl, the Locken family and friends, the Richards family, left Oklahoma and drove to Oregon together in search of work and a better life. Upon arrival in the Willamette Valley that summer they were thrilled to find an abundance of fruit and vegetables and fertile soil, so different from what they had left behind. They originally settled in the Stayton area and later purchased a farm south of Turner, Oregon where Mae and her siblings attended school.
Mae and Robert Arthur Humiston were married at the Army Barracks in Vancouver, WA July 11, 1941 just a few months before the outbreak of WWII. Three sons were born to the couple, Robert Arthur, Jr. born Nov. 12, 1942 in Yuba City, CA, Allen Leon born Dec. 14, 1944 in Salem, OR, and James Lee born July 6, 1953 at Fort Lawton, Seattle, WA. After the war, Bob was posted to Occupied Japan where Mae, Bobby and Allen joined him. She often told of traveling alone on those long airplane flights with two small boys. They were later posted to Fort Lawton, Seattle, WA, and to Fort Ord, Monterey, CA. Bob retired from the Army in 1959 and they made their home in Turner, OR. After a lengthy illness, Bob died at home in Turner in June 1963 and was laid to rest at Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, OR.
After Bob’s passing, Mae and son Jim moved to DuPont, WA where Mae worked at nearby Fort Lewis in the Post Exchange and managed the NCO Club. Some ten years later she met and soon married Charles V. Byrd January 19, 1973 in Woodburn, OR at the parsonage of the Rev. Scott and Ruth Anderson who had previously served Turner Methodist Church where the Locken family attended. They moved to Chuck’s home in Florence, OR and lived there until his passing in October 1983. He is interred at Belcrest Mausoleum, Salem, OR.
After Chuck’s passing, and to be closer to family, Mae sold their home in Florence and purchased a home in Salem, OR where she lived until her death at the age of 97. She attended Trinity United Methodist Church in Salem where she enjoyed many years volunteering in the church’s food bank. She loved time with her sisters and their families who lived nearby. She was preceded in death by her parents, both husbands, two sons Bobby and Allen and her four siblings Hubert Enoch Locken, Carlene Oswalt, Alice Lee Haugen and Patsy Ruth Whitfield. She is survived by son, Jim, Bobby’s children Tina Marie, Robert Arthur III, and John James and grandchildren, and Allen’s son John Allen and grandchildren. Mae is also survived by 14 nieces and nephews and several great nieces and nephews.
A private graveside service will be held Thursday, August 13 at Twin Oaks Cemetery, Turner, OR. The family requests no flowers.
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