Jan. 5, 1918 - March 20, 2009

Daisy "Eleanor" Vesper, 91, of Lebanon passed away Friday at Avamere Rehabilitation of Lebanon.

She was born in St. Paul, Minn., to Pere August and Olive Viola (Dahlquist) Shogren.

Eleanor worked at the First National Bank in Grand Rapids, Minn., for three years following her high school graduation in 1936. She then moved to Bremerton, Wash., and worked at the Commercial National Bank. Eleanor met Charles Vesper there and they were later married in Elkton, Md., on June 21, 1945.

They moved to Albany in 1947 after Chuck was discharged from the United States Marine Corps, and then moved to Lebanon in 1949. She had lived at their current residence since 1950, until eight months ago when she moved to Avamere Rehabilitation of Lebanon due to illness.

She loved to be outside where she could pull weeds, rake the grass and sweep the patio. In the summer she canned vegetables from the garden. She had a great sense of humor and laughed a lot. She told a lot of stories about growing up in northern Minnesota - about listening to the noise that the ice on the Bowstring River made when it cracked up and about getting the wild rice, skiing in the winter, the Northern Lights, walking to school in the snow and how sometimes the neighbor would come by with his children in his horse-drawn sleigh. The horse had bells and how she loved that sound. It was so cold that her eyelashes would freeze. She also loved shopping and going to lunch.

Eleanor was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Lebanon and the American Legion Auxiliary, and was a past member of the Zenith Club. While a member of the Zenith Club, she helped decorate the famous Strawberry Festival Shortcake.

She is survived by her husband of 63 years and nine months, Chuck Vesper of Lebanon; daughters Charlene Post and husband Gale of Lebanon, and Candace Wolfe and husband Shawn of Burns; son Charlie Vesper and wife Rhonda of Lebanon; grandchildren and their spouses Leslie and John Eddleman of Jefferson, Loren and Kristen Rehwinkel of Madras, Lyle and Laura Rehwinkel of Madras, Darci and Sean Wilson of Burns, April and Rob Simpson of Burns, Jacob and Megan Vesper of Lebanon, and Jill and Sean Meckelson of North Carolina; great-grandchildren Sam, Ike, Gabe, Gracie, Zoe, Damon, Shani, Bryce, Tylor, Jordan, Mollie, David, Jaycee, Kodi and Connor; sisters-in-law Laval Haenfler of Avon, S.D., and Betty Shogren of Lake Oswego; numerous cousins, nieces, nephews; and many friends.

Eleanor was preceded in death by her parents; infant son Lyle Charles Vesper; brother Hugh Shogren; grandson Brady Wolfe; and great-grandson Jordan Charles Vesper.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Contributions may be made to Samaritan Evergreen Hospice or the Avamere Rehabilitation of Lebanon Activity Fund sent in care of Huston-Jost Funeral Home, 86 W. Grant St., Lebanon, OR 97355.