Marlene Village & Saint Bartholomew Episcopal Church

I was nine when we moved to Marlene Village which was in the same Sunset area outside of Beaverton.  I believe that the houses were built after WWII and there were only three or four types of designs. 

All the houses had three bedrooms, a fairly large backyard and there were many young families with school age children.  The streets were safe for bicycle riding but we couldn't rollerskate as there were no footpaths.

It was there at my mother met Donna Jean Lameroux and her family.  Donna Jean was close to my mother in age.  She was very creative person and she and my mother spent a lot of time together working on their houses, sewing, looking for "stuff" for their houses (now called thrift shopping, garage sale attending, etc...) - you name it.  She made my mother happy and she was a good friend.

Both my father and Donna Jean's husband travelled a lot for their jobs.  We were often at the Lameroux's house for dinner - or they at ours - during the week when the Dads were out of town.  It was fun.  I know that my sister Candace will remember this.  Kathy and Kent Lameroux were younger then we were - Kathy may have been Candace's age - but we all played together a lot.

When we moved out of the neighbourhood, later, my mother always kept in contact with Donna Jean.  They exchanged long handwritten letters for many years and I always knew that my mother would be in a good mood when she found a letter in the letterbox from Donna Jean.

It was during the five years that we lived in Sunset that my parents were involved with the beginnings of St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Beaverton.  There wasn't an Episcopal church in the area and they were part of a group of young families who were the beginnings of it.  I can remember many of the families - we spent a lot of time with them.  When the new church was finished in 1959, I was in the first group of young people who were confirmed by the Bishop of the area.  It was quite an event, as all of the families had worked hard together to be part of it. 

When I look at the website of St. Bart's, I can see that the building is still the same - it was very modern at the time - but it seems to have retained it's beauty.