Our beloved Mother and Grandmother, Clara Matilda (Tillie) Allen Dunn, entered into the arms of her Savior on 21 February 2011 following years of declining health. She was 86.
A funeral service will be held at the Sandy Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Bluff Road at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday March 5, 2011 with burial following at Sandy Ridge Cemetery. Viewing will occur prior to the service at 12 noon.
Tillie was born June 19, 1924 in Salina, Utah to Isaac Lloyd and Clara Elizabeth (Casto) Allen. She married Norman L. Dunn on September 2, 1952 in the Manti, Utah LDS Temple. Dad preceded her in death December 5, 2010.
Norman and Tillie made their home in the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern Colorado, Utah, and the Portland, Oregon Area. They also spent several years following retirement near Wamic, OR before moving back to Sandy, OR. Tillie was a homemaker and the loving mother of four children, Paul, Vanieta, David, and Deborah. Tillie was a teacher of religion and was a profound student of the Scriptures. She taught Sunday School and early morning Seminary both in Portland and The Dalles. In 1992 Norman and Tillie served a teaching and fellowshipping mission for the LDS Church for a year in New Brunswick, Canada. She also served in many other capacities in the Church and the community.
Tillie was the great granddaughter of many early Utah pioneers and as a child spent many summers with her father herding cattle and sheep in the mountains of Central Utah. She enjoyed the outdoors and the beauty of the mountains and nature. Following high school and a bout with a mild case of polio, she moved to San Francisco where she worked for the US Army as a civilian. Later she worked as a seamstress and milliner (hat maker) for I. Magnum. She also became an artist, poet, story writer, public speaker, and an avid reader of the Holy Scriptures. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren remember her many “Little Tillie” stories about her adventures and experiences on the farm and in the mountains. Her son David once wrote: “Mom has a vast legacy of living, of loving, of caring, of serving...not only her family, but anyone in need”.
She was preceded in death by her husband Norman, her sister Etta, and a great-granddaughter.
Survivors include her children, Paul (Patsy) Dunn of Prineville, Vanieta Ralstin of Gresham, David (Kathy) Dunn of Marysville, Wash. and Debbie (Chaud) Spitzer of Lava Hot Springs, Idaho; 21 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren; as well as over 100 nieces and nephews.
The family would like to express their gratitude to the care givers at O’Hara Manor of Gresham for their tender loving care of our mother during her final days.