Obituary of Louise Marie Neighbors
Louise H Neighbors, 82 of Portland, died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, November 27th at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital, after an 18-month battle with Ovarian Cancer. Born in Hinsdale, IL in 1938, she was preceded in death by her parents, Camille and Marie Hentges. Louise was a proud daughter of Luxembourg, both of her parents were born in that small European country and immigrated to the US at a young age. She was married July of 1960 and is survived by her husband, Jerry Neighbors. Also surviving are her three sons, Michael, John, his wife Susan Niedermeyer, Thomas, his wife Tiffani, and grandson John Peter.
Louise was a longtime resident of Evanston, Illinois, where she raised her family before moving to Portland, Oregon in 2005. As a lifelong Democrat, she served as an election judge and advocate of progressive causes. She graduated Allegheny College in Meadville, PA in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in French, after studying at The Sorbonne in Paris her junior year. In 1977, she received her Master of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University and was a teacher at Evanston Township High School until 1987. Upon leaving the teaching profession, she entered the retail book business as the assistant manager in Evanston and as the Manager of a Barnes & Noble in Skokie, IL.
An avid reader, poet, and cookbook collector, she loved her daily word puzzles and going for nature walks, especially at her second home in Northern Wisconsin and in Portland’s Forest Park. She learned her love of cooking and baking from her parents and was especially at peace baking a good loaf of bread or decorating a cake for her family, a talent that she learned growing up in the family bakery in Western Springs, IL. She also enjoyed community theater, having been a childhood member of the Theatre of Western Springs and founding member of the St. Luke’s Company, appearing in numerous plays at St. Luke’s Theater and many at the Chicago Park District, notably at Theater on the Lake.
No memorial service is scheduled at this time. Memorial contributions can be made in her name to Doctors without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org) or Mercy Corps (www.mercycorps.org), two organizations that Louise held dear to her heart.
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