Bernice Irene Enke

Bernice Irene Enke, age 99, of Hammond, died Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011, in Astoria. She was born July 27, 1912, in Hammond, to Ivan and Esther M. (Storm) Simon, and raised by her grandparents, Lena and Werner Storm. In 1930, she graduated from Warrenton High School. She worked at the local grocery store and post office owned by Fred Parsons. On April 24, 1937, she married U.S. Coast Guardsman Walter Edward Enke, who was stationed at Point Adams, in Vancouver, Wash. He preceded her in death. Mrs. Enke and her husband moved to Portland, where she was a homemaker. During World War II, her husband joined the U.S. Navy. They were stationed in Bremerton, Wash., and Washington, D.C., where she attended a presidential inauguration. While her husband was still in the Navy, the couple returned to Hammond. She was a member of the Warrenton Garden Club, Clatsop Plains Garden Club, American Legion Auxiliary and chairwoman for huge salmon dinner fundraisers. She was also a member of the Order of Vasa, Swedish Sewing Club and Clatsop Plains Pioneer Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir. She attended Oregon Retired Teachers meetings, was an honorary member of Beta Sigma Phi and served on the Clatsop County Welfare Commission. Family members said she loved flowers and was an award-winning flower arranger who judged many flower shows. She is survived by two daughters and a son-in-law, Trudy Enke of Hammond and Terry and Doug Arnall of Warrenton; three grandchildren, George Arnall and his wife, Jenny, of Ashland, Dee Dee (Elizabeth) Arnall and her partner, Renee Rickman, of Pomona, Calif., and Katie and Steve Csergei of Hillsboro; and three great-grandchildren, Tate Bernice Arnall-Rickman of Pomona and Damien Andrew and Maximus Alexander Csergei of Hillsboro. A memorial will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20, at Caldwell's Luce-Layton Mortuary, 1165 Franklin Ave. A reception follows at the Holiday Inn Express, 204 W. Marine Drive. A picnic and celebration of life will be held in July to honor what would have been her 100th birthday. Details will be announced later. Private internment will be held at Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton. Memorial contributions may be given to the Clatsop County Food Bank, 364 Ninth St., Astoria, OR 97103, or a charity of one's choice. An online guest book can be signed at caldwellsmortuary.com