Sarah Pauline West

Born to Mary Susanna (Watson) and Sjur Peterson Ness on November 9th 1923 in Eugene, Oregon. Sarah was the youngest of nine children (6 sisters and 2 brothers) and the first to be born in a hospital -- because, said her eldest sister, “there wasn’t any room at home!” At the age of 4, her family moved to Portland. From her new home, she and her mother watched as Girls’ Polytechnic School was built next door. She graduated from Washington High School in Portland, Oregon. Attended Pacific Lutheran College in Tacoma Washington her freshman year. After World War II began, she enlisted in the Navy with her good friend Virginia (Ford) Bent. After basic training at Hunter College in New York City, she was stationed at the Long Beach Naval Air Station as an air traffic control operator. Although she was interested in a career in aviation control, it was clear when the war ended that women were no longer welcome in the control towers. So, she enrolled at Oregon State College (as it was then called) on the G.I. Bill and became a member of the Chi Omega sorority. At registration, she met Harry West in the veterans’ line. At first, they timed their walks between classes so their paths would cross in middle of the ‘quad’ in front of the Memorial Union. Harry was very attentive to Sarah after she twisted her ankle on a skiing adventure with him at Timberline Lodge. They were married on a hot August 28, in 1948, at the Central Lutheran Church, and then located on Wasco and Grand Avenue in Portland. Following graduation in 1949 with a B.S. in secretarial science, Sarah moved with Harry to Portland where she became secretary to the administrator of Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon. At the same time, her sister Anna Jo was secretary to the administrator of Multnomah Hospital and her sister Ellen was secretary to the head of the Oregon Tumor Clinic on Marquam Hill. Harry and Sarah settled in Portland’s Laurelhurst neighborhood in 1951 before the birth of their first child. Over the years she transformed a side hill into a terraced garden of annuals, perennials, roses and specimen shrubbery and trees. Care and feeding of her boys (including Harry) became Sarah’s primary occupation. Whether at home, on camping trips or at the beach, her family favorites, including oatmeal cookies, provided a dependable sense of continuity. She remained active (behind the scenes) in the family business, assisting Harry with the bookkeeping of Jobbers’ Service Company at the dining room table when he started the automotive parts warehouse in 1959. As Harry recovered from his 1971 heart attack, she returned with him to Jobbers’ Service and West Bearing & Parts as his executive assistant and personal firewall. Sarah’s hobbies & interests were many, but mainly Home, Family, and Church-centered. Seamstress, gardener, Sunday School teacher and bridge player were just a few of her regular past-times. Sarah and Harry toured Canada, Europe, Hawaii, and New England with her siblings; and travelled in several RV caravans with other couples from church. Annually, the week before Thanksgiving, loaves of fruitcake made from a tattered handwritten recipe were made and sent to a select group of friends and family, marking the Christmas season. The last few years, these loaves were assembled with help from her son & grandson. After Harry’s death in 2000 Sarah remained as active as her health would allow, traveling with her family, working in her garden and attending every sporting, school or church event her grandson was participating in and she could manage. At church, she assumed the role of caretaker/coordinator of the church’s rose garden which competed in the Rose Festival Association’s annual garden contest. She continued to live in her Laurelhurst home until suffering a stroke in October 2011. She was initially intent on recovering one more time against overwhelming odds. Therapy was complicated by a broken pelvis, partial paralysis, Parkinson’s disease and congestive heart failure; so with grace and courage she chose to enter comfort care. She set smaller goals of one more Christmas, one more visit from her son, one more visit from her grandson. Sarah is survived by her sons (Harrison, Kevin), daughter-in-law (Tamara), grandson (Erik), sister (Thelma Solie), sister-in-law (Jean West McNeil), many nieces, nephews and friends. Memorial service will be held on Friday, May 11, 2012 at 1:00 PM. at the Presbyterian Church of Laurelhurst located at 935 N.E. 33rd, Portland Oregon 97232. Private interment at Lincoln Memorial at a later date. Rememberances: Presbyterian Church of Laurelhurst Rose Garden Support 935 N.E. 33rd, Portland Oregon 97232 Pacific Lutheran University Men’s Lacrosse Club Tacoma, Washington Portland’s Walk of the Heroines, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751 Arrangements by Autumn Funerals, Cremation & Burial.