Hodelia Lamers

Hodelia Lamers passed away July 26, 2013 in her home near Monmouth at the age of 91.

Hodelia was born in 1922 in Terry, Montana. She was one of nine siblings of Jacob and Cristina Kogele. In her early years Hodelia went to a country school near Terry where she sang in the choir and often helped her parents by working in the fields during harvest. Hodelia and her eight siblings all loved music.

Several of the brothers played guitar and there was always music and singing when they were together. She learned to play the accordion at an early age and continued playing it her entire life.

During her senior year in high school, Hodelia met John Lamers at a barn dance and it was love at first sight. They were married on July 24, 1943 while John was stationed at Camp Adair near Corvallis. Theirs was the first military wedding performed in the Camp Adair chapel. Hodelia followed John to several military bases before he left to fight in World War II. They had been married for 65 years when John passed away in 2008.

John and Hodelia raised six children and had three different farms over the years. Hodelia's life was a full one raising children, assisting at John's Oregon Liquor Control Commission job, and working on the farm. The family grew a large vegetable garden every year, and Hodelia canned vegetables and fruit and made jam, jelly and pickles.

After family, her great loves were music and flowers. She built and maintained large flower gardens that had a great variety of flowers, and she loved to have fresh picked bouquets in the house for family and visitors to enjoy. Hodelia was also a member of the garden club. She loved to arrange flowers and make wreaths and give them to friends and family.

Hodelia learned square dancing at an early age and she and John were very active in local Square Dance clubs. Hodelia and John both enjoyed playing pinochle and often played four-hand games with friends and family.

Another love of Hodelia's was painting. She had some classes in painting techniques but she was mainly self-taught. She painted in every medium from oil to watercolors and left a legacy of beautiful paintings that the family will enjoy for years to come.

John and Hodelia raised Tennessee Walking Horses for nearly 40 years and were charter members forming the Tennessee Walking Horses Exhibition of Oregon in 1963. They also showed Tennessee Walking horses for years and raised Ore-tana Rocket to be a Supreme Versatility Champion whose picture hangs in the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame in Tennessee.

Hodelia is survived by five children (oldest to youngest): Gloria Bergquist of Portland; Bill Lamers of Monmouth; Terry Lamers of Dallas, Oregon; Lee Lamers of Monmouth and Jan Brown of Kennewick, Washington. Her daughter Kathleen Fella died in 2012. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren and 3 greatgrandchildren. Surviving siblings include Anna Misfeldt and Martha Bradley of Billings, Montana; Ida Stadler of Palmer, Alaska and Otto Kogele of Arizona.

Private interment will be at Fir Crest Cemetery (Smith section) in Monmouth.