Obituary: Joan Cyrus

At the Pine Forest Grange dances, musician Warren Cyrus noticed you were “the cutest girl on the dance floor” and you thought he was all right himself. You dated him, married him, and together raised Kathy, Ken, Kurt and Steve in Hood River while holding jobs at Hood River County School District and later Salem-Keizer Public Schools. After work there were football games, Little League games, softball games, and track meets to cheer, Scouts to organize, ceramics and stained glass to design, camps to pitch and mountains to traverse, and of course, all the wrangling and refereeing that comes with a large family. You were the only mother around with her own motorcycle, and you loved hiking your entire life.

In retirement, you threw your heart and energy into creative endeavors with your family. You planted trees with Warren and your boys, quilted with Judy and Susie, crafted with Kathy, and taught the strategies of cards and dice to your grandchildren. You documented family history in your artful scrapbooks, organized crafts for the kids at Vacation Bible School, and baked desserts with your home-grown blackberries no one could refuse. You pruned, trimmed, and burned the slash from your forested property, followed faithfully by your New Zealand Heading Dog sidekick Ruby, bowled consistently in the 200s with your league at Starlite Lanes, and composed letters with witty, playfully-worded humor. And, in the ultimate act of love, you helped Warren battle Parkinson's disease with dignity in his final years. In short, your life was full, and you filled others’ in turn.

You were preceded in death by your husband Warren, grandson Benjamin Joseph Cilker, parents Ruth and Carson Call, brother Donald Call, grandparents Joseph and Fay Hoofset, and favorite aunt and uncle Mabel and Everett Lentz. You are survived by your daughter Kathleen (Carl Cilker); sons Kenneth, Kurt (Linnea Lindberg), and Steven, who spent many years devoted to his parents’ care; six grandchildren and their spouses; 10 great-grandchildren, and sisters Judith Esrig and Susan Haugen. We celebrate your life with happy memories of a life well-lived and loved, your famous day-after-Thanksgiving turkey salad, zucchini cookies, and a thick slice of warm blackberry pie topped with vanilla ice cream. To repeat your own words back to you: “Love you Bushels, and Pecks, and Quarts, and Pints, and Cups.”

In lieu of flowers, please consider planting a tree or making a donation to Willamette Vital Health for the benefit of Tokarski House. A memorial service is planned for the near future.