March 31, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
OBITUARIES
Claire Lovell
Dorothy Mae ‘Dolly’ Hutchinson
Sept. 9, 1920 — March 15, 2017
Sept. 26, 1926 — March 7, 2017
Evelyn Claire (Ruthrauff)
Lovell passed away peace-
fully at her home in Seaside,
Oregon, on March 15, 2017,
in the company of family and
friends. She was 96.
Known for her quick wit
and vivacity, Claire’s roots in
the community ran deep. Ex-
cept for brief stints in Grays
Harbor and Portland, and five
years in Astoria, Seaside was
her only home. In her own
words, “Some flowers just
want to be left alone to bloom
where they are planted — I’m
one of those, myself.”
Claire was born in Seaside
on Sept. 9, 1920, to Charles
and Myrtle (Sawrey) Ruth-
rauff. The youngest of nine
children, she attended Central
School and Seaside Union
High School, graduating as
salutatorian with the class of
1937, an honor she shared
with close friend Evelyn
(Stewart) Redkey.
After training at St.
Mary’s Hospital School of
Nursing, she became an RN
in 1943, later returning to
work in the hospital’s mater-
nity ward. Her nursing ca-
reer spanned more than four
decades, during which time
she also married and raised a
family. She worked for many
years at the Seaside Clinic
and at Ocean Air (later Ocean
Park) Nursing Home, where
she served as head nurse and
administrator until her retire-
ment in 1985.
Not content to be idle,
Claire found a new pur-
suit as a columnist for the
Seaside Signal. “Scene and
Heard” appeared regularly
from 1990 to 2017, with her
final submission completed
a week before her death. In
her column, Claire mused
about everything from local
history and current goings on,
to language and life lessons.
It reflected her wry sense of
humor, and most often closed
with a favorite quip or laugh
line.
In 2009, she published
“Where the Heart Is,” a mem-
oir and celebration of the
hometown she treasured.
Many of Claire’s activi-
ties and friendships revolved
around Seaside United Meth-
odist Church, where she was
active from a young age. She
especially enjoyed singing
with the choir. The church
honored her 75 years of
Claire Lovell
membership in 2010. She was
also a 70-year member of the
American Legion Auxiliary
Post 99.
Throughout her life, Claire
corresponded with countless
friends and acquaintances,
and wrote letters of admira-
tion and admonition to pub-
lic figures. Those who knew
her will recall her remarkable
memory for birthdays and
special occasions, which she
always acknowledged with a
personal note.
Claire had a deep appre-
ciation for both language and
music; she composed poetry,
lyrics, and loved to dance.
As befits a life-long resident
of the coast, she was for
many years an accomplished
clam digger. She delighted in
watching birds and wildlife
and taking walks about town,
catching up with friends and
neighbors along the way.
Claire is survived by her
children, Robin (Hill) Der-
ringer (Stan Delgado) of
Bremerton,
Washington,
Gary Hill (Connie Oksol) of
Oakland, California, Jeffrey
Hill (Nancy) and Lauren
(Lovell) McMichaels (Rob),
both of Eugene, Oregon;
grandchildren, Aimee, Andra,
Julia, David and Elena; and
great-granddaughter, Emery.
She was preceded in death by
long-time friend and sweet-
heart, John Raniero.
A memorial celebration
will be held at 11 a.m. on
Saturday, May 6, at Seaside
United Methodist Church,
with a reception to follow. All
are welcome.
Private burial will be at
Ocean View Cemetery in
Warrenton.
Hughes-Ransom Mortu-
ary in Seaside is in charge of
the arrangements. To sign the
guest book, please visit www.
hughes-ransom.com
Eugene C. ‘Gene’ Koch
Oct. 23, 1938 — March 23, 2017
Eugene (Gene) C. Koch
passed away peacefully at
the Veteran’s Home in The
Dalles, Oregon, March 23,
2017.
Gene’s parents were Eu-
gene ( Cookie) and Betty
Koch of Seaside, Oregon.
He graduated from Sea-
side Union High School in
the Class of 1957 and, after
serving his time with the Na-
tional Guard, he went on to a
long career as an electrician,
working mainly out of the
IBEW Local 48.
He was a union man
through and through. He was
also a past exhalted ruler with
the Seaside Elks Lodge, a
member of the American Le-
gion and past member of the
Moose Lodge.
He loved the game of
bowling, and finally accom-
plished a bowler’s dream of
rolling the first recognized
perfect “300” game by the
Seaside Bowling Association
at Evergreen Lanes in Gear-
hart on Dec. 28, 1990.
Gene is survived by his
wife of 42 years, Ruth (Wood-
worth) Koch; three stepchil-
dren, Charlotte (Dave) Link
of The Dalles, Mark (Liz)
Woodworth of Golden, Col-
orado, and Connie Clementz
of Seaside; three grandchil-
dren, Nikole Davis of Bea-
Eugene Koch
Dolly Hutchinson was
born in Akron, Ohio, to
R. Earl Hutchinson and C.
Evangeline Dye Hutchin-
son, who were originally
from Oregon City. She was
the last surviving grandchild
of Charles Henry and Eva
Emery Dye, early Oregon
historians and activists.
Soon after Dolly’s birth,
the family moved to South
Gate, California, where her
father worked at the new
Firestone Tire plant. Dolly
graduated from South Gate
High School, worked in in-
dustry during World War
II, then attended USC. She
graduated with a bachelor’s
degree in education in 1949,
and later earned her master’s
degree there.
She remained in South-
ern California, and retired
after 36 years as a school-
teacher in Montebello. She
loved the outdoors and spent
several summers running
Girl Scout camps at Big
Bear and Catalina Island.
She loved cooking, modern
design, art pottery, debating
politics and public policy.
Her lifelong love of Ore-
gon, where she spent many
childhood summers with
family, drew her back there,
and she spent most sum-
mers since 1973 in Cannon
Beach, where she purchased
a cottage with her friend
Mary Westmorland. She
became a devoted member
of the History Center there,
spending many hours vol-
unteering and contributing
some of her family’s ar-
chives and memories of old
Oregon. Her last three years
were spent living on the Or-
egon Coast, then Beaverton,
Dorothy Mae “Dolly”
Hutchinson
where she passed away fol-
lowing a stroke.
She is survived by her
loving family: sister-in-
law Lynne Hutchinson
of Downey, California;
nephews Charles “Rick”
Hutchinson of Clovis, Cali-
fornia, Kenneth Hutchinson
and Thomas Hutchinson,
both of Downey, and Charles
Hosterman of Ramsey,
Minnesota; nieces Nancy
Brubaker of Los Altos, Cal-
ifornia, and Gretchen Cleve-
land of Rogers, Minnesota;
and many great-nieces and
nephews.
The family thanks Dol-
ly’s great friends, Amy and
Sharon, who helped her tre-
mendously in the past year.
Services have been held
at Rose Hills Memorial
Park, in Whittier, California.
In lieu of flowers, dona-
tions can be made to: Can-
non Beach History Center,
P.O. Box 1005, Cannon
Beach, OR 97110 (http://
cbhistory.org); or the Mc-
Loughlin Memorial Associ-
ation, 713 Center St., Ore-
gon City, OR 97045 (www.
mcloughlinhouse.org).
Eric was born to Wayne
and Bernadette Lappi in Rio
Del Mar, California, and left
us in Portland, Oregon.
He was raised in San-
ta Cruz County, California,
with a love for surfing, ski-
ing, fishing and hunting.
He had a few job expe-
riences before going to, and
finishing school at Cal Poly
University in San Luis Obis-
po in 1983 with a degree in
engineering, which he used
to work in refrigeration and
air conditioning for most of
his life. His passion for sav-
ing energy always impressed
me.
He married Katie Quinn
and moved to Bainbridge
Island, Washington, where
he had two sons. Sean was
born in 1989, and Spencer in
1991. He later married Karen
Cornell in 2001 and moved
to Portland, Oregon where
he spent the remainder of his
life. They both enjoyed simi-
lar activities and traveled of-
ten. There were many visits
to Seaside, Oregon, to visit
both his and Karen’s fami-
lies.
Eric continued to enjoy
snow skiing, fishing, cooking
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and some hunting. He passed
his love for surfing onto his
two sons, who continue to
enjoy their time in the ocean.
He had a kind heart and was
always willing to share his
many stories. There will al-
ways be Eric Lappi stories.
Eric is survived by his
wife, Karen; his mother,
Bernadette; his brother, Bri-
an; his two sons; and a good
number of close friends and
relatives.
As we share our stories
and memories of Eric, what
counts is that they are re-
membered, and when we
think about Eric, we feel for-
tunate to have time with him.
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Questions? Call Clatsop SWCD 503-325-4571
also participants.
AAUW
supports
equal pay for women and
has promoted the annual
observance of Equal Pay
Day since its inception in
1995.
In 2016, on average
women in full-time jobs
were paid 21 percent less
than their male coun-
terparts in the United
States. It takes 3.5 extra
months for a female to
catch up to a male’s an-
nual pay. In Oregon, the
gender pay gap is 16 to
20 percent.
Nov. 4, 1958 — Jan. 22, 2017
Native Plant Sale 2017!!!
Large variety of native plants for landscaping,
conservation, or pollinator habitat projects!
Pre-order sales available through March 20th.
Find pre-order info at ClatsopSWCD.org
The Seaside American
Association of Universi-
ty Women shows support
for Equal Pay Day Tues-
day, April 4, by offering
women discounts at local
coffeehouses In Seaside,
participating business
include Seaside Coffee
House, Caffe Latte and
Divine Grounds. In Can-
non Beach, Sleepy Monk
Coffee Roasters, Sea
Level Bakery and Cof-
fee offer discounts. Java
Reef and By The Way in
Gearhart, along with Mé
Latte in Warrenton, are
Eric Wayne Lappi
More obituaries on page 6A
verton, Elizabeth “Libby”
(Nathan) La Marr Jones of
Littleton, Colorado, and Sean
Woodworth of Golden, Colo-
rado; and three great-grand-
children, Harrison, Silas
and Oaks Jones of Littleton,
Colorado. They called him
GGPA.
Private burial will be at
Ocean View Cemetery, along-
side his parents.
Memorial services will be
at a later date.
Memorial donations, in
lieu of flowers, may be made
to the Seaside Elks Lodge
or Our Saviour’s Lutheran
Church in Seaside.
AAUW announces
‘equal pay day’ April 4
music fi rst
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