Obituary of Mary Catherine Churnside

Mary Catherine Bertenshaw Churnside, a long time resident of Milwaukie, Oregon, passed away April 26, 2012, at Rose Villa Senior Living. She was born in Spokane, Washington, on February 4, 1923, to Harwood and Carrie Bertenshaw. As a youngster her family spent many happy days in the outdoors and those interests carried through her entire life. Over the years she enjoyed skiing, hiking, and many other activities with her friends from the Tenth Mountain Division, the Trails Club, and Mazamas. She was very proud to have climbed most of the major peaks in the Cascade Range--some of them twice. Mary graduated from North Bend High School in Washington. Soon after graduation she took classes to learn how to run the Comptometer machine which could do all 4 math functions. She went on learning through many computer stages and continued to be amazed at how much things had changed. Mary retired from Mayflower Farms after working in their accounting department for many years. After retirement, she served on the Milwaukie Public Library Board, was active in the Moreland Presbyterian Church, and continued to enjoy the outdoors, her grandchildren, and traveling. She is survived by her sons, James, Donald, and Robert and their families, including 7 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, May 23 at 2 pm at the Moreland Presbyterian Church, 1814 SE Bybee in Portland, Oregon. Donations may be made in Mary's memory to the Mazamas, Trails Club of Oregon, or Moreland Presbyterian Church.