September 18, 1921 – December 22, 2011
Jennie Doreen Cookson, 90, of Salem passed away peacefully Thursday at the Tokarski Hospice Home in Salem with family at her side.
The daughter of Clifford Guy Rice and Jennie Mabel Hamilton, Doreen was born in Holley, Oregon, in the home her grandfather James Norval Rice built after immigrating to Oregon Territory via wagon train in 1850. The fourth of six children, Doreen grew up on the homestead in Holley and graduated from Sweet Home High School in 1939.
She married Robert Alvin Cookson on June 1, 1940 in a double ceremony with her brother Melvin and his wife Lucille. Together, Robert and Doreen raised two sons, Cifford Roger and Robert Wayne on their property in Turner, OR. Doreen supplemented the family income working as a nurse’s aide, a bookkeeper, a receptionist, and a dental assistant.
Doreen loved being around people and enjoyed her many friends, especially those she lived with at Lancaster Village in Salem. Throughout her life she enjoyed quilting, sewing, spinning, weaving, piano playing and baking. She was immensely talented at all, though quilting was her biggest love and she participated regularly in two quilting groups, one at Mission Mill and one at Lancaster Village, throughout her final years.
She is preceded in death by her husband Robert (1997); her sons Robert Wayne (1975) and Clifford (1999); her brothers Melvin and Lynn; and her sisters Oleatha and Clarabell. Her family was always touched by the way she accepted life’s trials with grace and strength, modeling for all how to successfully carry on through one’s grief.
Her matter-of-fact spirit, sense of humor, enormous talent and sweet hugs will be missed most by her daughter-in-law Claudine Schiller of Albany, OR; her grandson Trev Cookson and his wife Kim of Steilacoom, WA; her granddaughter Christine (Cookson) Veach and her husband Denton of Keizer, OR; her great-granddaughter Rebecca Veach of Keizer, OR; and her brother Richard Rice of Holley, OR.
A viewing will be held Thursday, December 29, 12-5 pm and Friday, December 30, 10 am to 12 pm, followed by a funeral service on Friday, December 30, 1 pm, all at Howell-Edwards-Doerksen Funeral Home. Online condolences and memories at http://www.HED-FH.com.
The family would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to the staff of the Tokarski Hospice Home for their loving and supportive care of both Doreen and her grieving family members during her final days. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Tokarski Hospice Home or Willamette Valley Hospice.