Obituary: Caroline Homer

This was her first paid gig, but certainly not her last. Throughout high school, she was the principal pianist with several high school dance bands. She sang in the high school choir and also played the French horn in the band.

Caroline attended Barrett School as well as Hood River High School, graduating in 1951 from Lyle High School, where the family had relocated. Unsettled during her early adult years, she worked as a server in restaurants before leaving for San Francisco with her older brother, Tommy, who was stationed at Moffitt Field. The Bell Telephone Company hired her and she worked several months in Oakland, Calif., before returning to The Dalles and working for the telephone office there. After a few years, she decided she wanted to advance her education and enrolled in Portland State College. Later, she entered beauty school and completed her credentials to become a licensed cosmetologist. After working for the Olds and Kings beauty salon, she relocated to The Dalles in 1956 to work at the Commodore Beauty Shop. Within a few years, she purchased it and christened it Caroline’s Beauty Shop. Throughout her adult life, she kept her license and skills updated. When her children arrived, she conducted beauty shop business in her own home.

In 1971, Caroline wooed and married her postman, Larry Homer. Together they had two sons, Dan and Mike. Caroline was an active participant in school activities, frequently volunteering to serve on committees and to help at school functions. The family enjoyed deer and elk hunting, steelhead and trout fishing, trips to Reno and all types of camping in the Pacific Northwest. A skilled hunter, she knew what to do when a buck was bagged. She told the men in the hunting party to stand back and watch from a distance.

For 48 years, Caroline was the organist at the UCC Congregational Church in The Dalles, rarely missing a Sunday, except during elk season. Similarly, she was the Friday and Saturday night pianist for 25 years at the Baldwin Saloon, where she captured and sustained a wide circle of friends and fans with her piano stylings. She was also a frequent attendee at local jam sessions on her piano accordion.

Caroline’s tender heart was devoted to small animals her entire life. She raised dachshunds and often kept the entire litter. Her most memorable dog, Hershey, a chocolate lab, met Caroline as her soul departed this planet. They then crossed the Rainbow Bridge together. She leaves behind two small dogs, Mickee and Moose.

Caroline had a joie de vivre throughout her life, rarely down, always optimistic and friendly. She always said because her family moved so frequently during the World War II years, she attended numerous schools (11) and learned to make friends quickly and easily. This attribute never left her.

Her spouse, Larry, her parents, Tom and Bertha O’Brien, and her brother, Tom, predeceased Caroline. Caroline is survived by two sons, Dan Homer of Parkdale, Ore., his spouse, Jan, and two grandsons, Dan Jr. and Derek, and Mike Homer of Damascus, Ore., his spouse, Jenn, and one grandson, Mitchell. She also leaves a brother, Jim O’Brien of Yachats, Ore./Tucson, Ariz., and his spouse, Shirley.

She will always be remembered by so many for her smile, her laughter and her music. A celebration of life service will be scheduled in the near future.