Obituary of Marie Lim Fromme

Marie Lim (Mei Lan) Fromme died in her home of congestive heart failure on January 6, 2022. She had suffered heart arrhythmias for several years but developed heart failure over the past year. She is survived by her husband Don, son Erik, his wife Sara, & (grand)daughter Lauren; son Jason & wife Lucie; brother Bill & wife Marilyn; and a large extended family. Preceding her in death were her parents, half-sister Helen, brother George, sister Nancy, brother Don, & tragically, nephew Steve Lim who died much too soon. As her husband Don, was urging her to let him take her to the ER, her last words were “No, I want to die in my own bed.” As I shall illustrate, this determination characterized all her endeavors in life.

 

Marie was born on December 2, 1939 to Lim Poy Yuen (George) & Leong Chung Oi (Betty) at the Stork’s Nest in Tucson, Arizona. After attending elementary school in Tucson, she moved with the family to Phoenix, where she completed high school. Her determination evidenced itself as she graduated in education from Arizona State University with honors. She then taught sixth grade in Riverside, California for a year, before winning an East-West Center fellowship that provided full support for earning a Master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at the University of Hawai’i. It was on the trip to Hawai’i on the SS President Wilson that she first met her future husband Don, who was heading for his internship in Clinical Psychology at Hawai’i State Hospital in Kaneohe. After dating there for a year, Don returned to Iowa to complete his doctoral degree while Marie completed her master’s (again with straight A’s). Many letters crossed the ocean that year! Don & Marie married on June 6, 1965 in Canton, Missouri in Don’s parent’s home. Brother George ‘gave’ her away, as her father had died when she was just four years old. Don still had his dissertation to complete in Iowa City where they lived that summer with Marie typing his dissertation (Smith Corona typewriter in septuplet) as he wrote. That also took determination & true love.

 

Love and determination were defining features in Marie’s life. A creative talent has been described as equal parts inspiration & perspiration and it might be added that love provides the passion to stay the course. Marie brought that passion to all her endeavors, from her education, to her work, and especially to her family. As with many women of her generation, family & home came before any career, so while Don taught psychology courses to servicemen in the Far East and in Europe the next two years, Marie used her TESL training to help Japanese workers supporting the US Military learn English. At the end of her course she was surprised by the outpouring of gratitude her students gave her with a standing ovation & beautiful black-lacquered bookends.

 

After these travel adventures exploring cultures around the world, Don and Marie settled in Stillwater, where Don taught Psychology at Oklahoma State University. Soon Erik & Jason were born and became the next passion in her life. I’ve included in the photo array below examples of the joys Marie experienced with the boys, as well as later with grand-daughter Lauren. Once the boys were well started in school, she returned back to school at OSU. Concerned about perceptions of nepotism if she studied Psychology, she chose Sociology to complete her PhD. As usual, straight A’s! She was still interested in helping people and so did post-doc work in Marriage & Family Therapy for her license. She then worked for the Payne County Counseling Center and began a private practice, where she was able to help many couples, families and individuals. Her determination was also demonstrated by arranging for architects to design an earth-sheltered home in the country & then supervising and contracting for all the materials and labor to complete the build. 

 

After 25 years in Stillwater, the couple moved to Oregon, where Don resumed teaching and directed Pacific University’s training clinic for therapists. Because her Sociology degree didn’t match Oregon’s licensing criteria, she was unable to continue her counseling work. Coping with this disappointment, she became the contractor for their new home in Tualatin. Then she turned to her passion for art which she & Don fed with many museums during their travels. She had always had an eye for drawing things, but hadn’t trained  working with oils and color. After disappointing experiences with a couple of art instructors, she decided she could teach herself and proceeded to do so over the next two years before starting her painting career in earnest. Son Erik recently photographed the resulting 453 paintings of which he was aware. Don was sorting through Marie’s files recently and found two file drawers packed with smaller studies painted on hard board. Too many to count! Once again her determination is shown in the passion Marie always brought to her efforts. She will be missed by all who had the privilege of meeting her.

 

 

The Fromme family will be hosting a memorial service celebrating Marie's life on July 2,2022, at the home at 5550 SW Omaha Ct., Tuatlatin OR 97062. Plans include memories of Marie starting at 11 a.m., followed by a catered lunch immediately after. After a leisurely lunch, we shall move to Marie's rose garden which should be in bloom by then for the scattering of ashes. In addition to Marie's ashes, her brother Don's ashes (he died late last year) will join the ashes of her other siblings George & Nancy, and her mother Chung Oi's ashes that have nourished her garden. We are hoping her surviving brother Bill will attend & help with the scattering of ashes. If you plan on attending please RSVP Don Fromme @ the above address or via e-mail <dfromme1@yahoo.com>

 

 

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