church
Thressia Del Colbert: Still
Sharing Vanport Stories
By helen Silvis of
The Skanner News
S
he was born in
1911. That’s the
same year as
Gone with the Wind
star
Butterfly
McQueen,
trumpet
great Roy “Little Jazz”
Eldridge, and Negro
League baseball star
Josh Gibson. Those
famous folks are long
gone now, but at 100
years of age Thressia
Del Colbert is still going
strong.
Ms. Colbert’s relatives
and friends gathered at
the Crowne Plaza Hotel,
Saturday Dec. 3, to cele-
brate her amazing life,
and testify that “Aunt
Stell” has inspired four
generations of young
people to work hard and
achieve.
“I consider her like the
glue that holds our family
together,”
says
her
nephew Willie John
Kelly, who is 76. “She
helped our whole family.
Everything she did was positive.”
Born Nov. 28, 2011 in Linden, Texas,
Colbert was the oldest child of Augusta and
Willie Osborne Walton. farmers who grew
and sold cantaloupes, tomatoes, okra,
cucumbers, peppers and watermelon on
160 acres of land bought in 1898 and still
owned by the family. With chickens and
cattle providing milk and meat, the family
was self-sufficient in
food.
“We had the garden
and we had everything
we needed,” Colbert
says. “At that time there
were not many cars. The
only car you saw was
the mailman. You saw
horses, mules and don-
keys.”
When Colbert was just
8 years old, her mother
died of an undiagnosed
illness.
“I had a brother and
two sisters, and when
my mother passed I had
to look after that little
crew,” she says. Colbert’s
grandmother Lila Wilkins
worked for a well-to-do
family who lived at 2220
Grand Ave., Dallas. She
remembers the address
because she was the one
in the family who wrote
the letters. Her grand-
mother often sent care
packages to help the fam-
ily.
“We were some of the
best-dressed little kids in
that town,” she says.
In 1935, Colbert went to Houston and
worked as a janitor for Sears Roebuck so
that she could attend Houston College.
That’s where she met her husband, Andrew
Colbert, a football player. Colbert says she
was astounded by how much the other stu-
dents ate. “I never knew people to eat like
At 100 years of
age Thressia
Colbert is sharp
as a tack. She
remembers
Bonnie and
Clyde, the
Depression and
the Vanport flood
of 1948.
See ColBert on page 12
Edna Hall: Services Thursday
E
dna Hall was born on April 14,
1919 in Mount Calm, Texas to
Lonnie and Velvet Searcy. She
died Dec. 2, 2011.
A viewing will be held from 10 to
11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15 at Mt.
Olivet Baptist Church followed by
funeral services at 11 a.m.
Hall was the oldest of three daugh-
ters. She graduated from high school
in Texas. She married Bowie Butler
and they had two children, Peggy
Butler was born in Texas and later she
had T. Yvonne Butler born in Portland, Ore.
Hall was a devoted wife, mother, sister, grandmother and aunt. Bowie Butler
passed away in 1952, she then later married Charley Hall and he passed away in
1982.
She was one of a kind, always had a special smile and never a harsh word.
Everyone always asked her for advice because she could tell you how to do it and
do it right.
She was a strong but a mild mannered woman.
She leaves behind daughters Peggy and Yvonne and their husbands; grandchil-
dren Terry White, Wendy (White) Hurlie, Clifford White and John Otis White Jr;
eight great grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren. She was a loving
mother and grandmother to all as much as her own children. She was loved by
many and loved all of her cousins, nieces, nephews and friends as well as her
church family. Arrangements by Terry Family Funeral Home
www.terryfamilyfuneralhome.com
Christmas Meals
Christ Memorial Church Free Community
Dinner Dec. 17
On Saturday, Dec. 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Christ Memorial
Community Church hosts a free turkey dinner and warm clothing will be pro-
vided to whomever is in need.
In addition to the free food and clothes, information about other services
provided by CHILD, Inc. (Community Help Institute for Learning and
Development), will be available, including: educational programs for chil-
dren, job training and placement assistance, and finding adequate housing. If
you have any questions please call 503-972-2122, or email Christ.memori-
al.pdx@gmail.com.
Snowcap Schedules Annual Christmas
Meal For Needy
Page 6 The Portland Skanner
december 14, 2011
THESkANNER . cOm
ON THE WEB AT
READ THIS
SnowCap Community Charities will again provide a free Christmas dinner
for low-income families and individuals in the east Multnomah County area.
The dinner will be served Saturday, Dec. 24 from noon until 2 p.m. at the
Rockwood United Methodist Church at 17805 SE Stark Street.
“This is the fifth year we have hosted the event and we know it helps peo-
ple who have found themselves out of work, are in low-paying employment
or have otherwise struggled through economic misfortune recently,” says
Judy Alley, SnowCap executive director.
“We consider the dinner a success if we can provide a hearty, nourishing
meal to those in need,” Alley adds.
SnowCap Community Charities is a philanthropic organization founded to
provide food, clothing, advocacy and other services to the poor in an area
including Gresham, Fairview, Wood Village and Troutdale.
The agency currently is serving more than 9000 people, including many
children, a month even though, “We are facing serious food shortages,” Alley
says.
SnowCap is seeking immediate cash and food donations to “get us through
a truly tough time where the requests for assistance runs well ahead of our
capability to serve all those who are in need,” she says.
In addition, volunteers are needed to help serve the dinner and assist with
other holiday activities, including a scheduled toy wrapping session.
Information regarding volunteering and donations is available by calling
Dolores Livesay at SnowCap, 503-674-98785 (ext) or emailing
dolores@snowcap.org.
Caldwell’s, Hennessey, Goetsch
& McGee Funeral Home
Von D. Bailey
Funeral Director
20 NE 14th Avenue
Portland, OR 97232
503-232-4111
Fax 503-231-1586
von.bailey@sci-us.com