Obituary: Mary Elin Folkenberg (Jan. 14, 1937 – Sept. 30, 2011)

Mary Elin Folkenberg, age 74, passed away peacefully at Ashley Manor in Grants Pass, Ore., on September 30, 2011, after an extended illness. Mary was born on January 14, 1937, to Russell G. Hansen and Wiana G. Hansen-Rustan in Mount Vernon, Wash.

The family relocated to Crescent City in 1951 when Mary was 14 years old, where she later met and married Richard Thorval Folkenberg on June 2, 1953. Together they had four daughters, Carolyn Taylor and husband Dwight of Oak Harbor, Wash., Debbie Taylor and husband Wade of Las Cruces, N.M., Linda Dillingham and husband Ernie of Eagle Point, Ore., and Wendy Wiley and husband Don of Joplin, Mo.

Richard and Mary moved to Medford, Ore., in 1979 where Mary joined the Lions Club and over the years held the offices of president and secretary. In addition to spending as much time as she could with family members she loved square dancing and looked forward every year to participating with the Lions Club serving food at parades and the Jazz Jubilee. She also enjoyed attending the Shakespearean festival in Ashland and counted down the days each summer for the start of the new school year to meet the new group of students she would have the pleasure of working with serving in the grandparent program at Kennedy Elementary School.

Mary was preceded in death by her father, Russel G. Hansen, her stepfather, Floyd Rustan and her husband Richard T. Folkenberg. Mary is also survived by her mother, Wiana G. Hansen-Rustan, and sister, Joan Bolman and husband Wayne, all of Crescent City, sister Wanda Hansen, and her brother Tom Hansen and his wife Sandi, all of Grants Pass, Ore., as well as 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. A family graveside service at the direction of Wier’s Mortuary Chapel will be held at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Crescent City, on Sat., Oct. 29, 2011, at 12 p.m.

— Submitted by Family