Anna Lorraine Parker, 89,  died on July 9 with her family by her side.

She was born on Sept. 7, 1918, up Butter Creek out of Echo to John and May Deardorff.

In the mid-1920s, she moved with her family to the Powers area in Coos County, where she spent her growing up years. She met Walt Parker there, and they were married on Oct. 20, 1938.

Parker lived almost all of her life in Oregon, with only a brief time away. In 1961, the couple moved to Drewsey, where they worked on cattle ranches until her husband began work on county road maintenance. In order to escape the harsh winters of the high desert, they moved to Sixes in 1986, and lived there until her husband’s death in 1988. In May 1991, Parker moved to the  Mennonite Village in Albany, where she stayed until her move to La Grande in September 2005.

Parker believed that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” and was always busy doing something. She spent many hours with some sort of handwork until the final year of her life. She mostly knit, crocheted and tatted, and made hundreds of items in thread and yarn over her lifetime. While living in Albany and La Grande, she crocheted dozens of blankets for the children at the ABC House in Albany.

Parker began painting in her 50s, and her landscapes are now scattered around the country in the homes of her children and grandchildren. She was also very musical, and taught herself to play the piano, organ, accordion violin, guitar, banjo, ukulele and harmonica. She could sing soprano, alto or tenor. She was an avid reader and always had hundreds of books on her shelves, believing that a book was just a bit more important than dust.

Parker had a rock solid faith in Jesus Christ and was a regular church participant all her life. She read her Bible through several times each year, and this was her handbook for how to live her life.

The main focus of Parker’s life was always her family. She rarely worked outside the home and lent a real sense of security to her children by always being there.

Parker is survived by her children, Shirley Stewart of Haines, Alaska, Peggy Tudor of Albany, Walt Parker of Council, Idaho, Paul Parker of Marsing, Idaho; Bertha Thompson of La Grande,  and RJ (Ray) Parker of Republic, Wash. She is also survived by 18 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild, with another on the way.

Parker was preceded in death by her husband, Walt, of 50 years; sister, Georgia; and an infant son and an infant daughter.

A memorial service was held July 12 and a burial service will take place later this summer, when her ashes will be interred next to those of her husband in Lebanon.

In lieu of flowers or contributions, the family asks that her favorite flowers, the yellow rose bush, be planted in her memory.