Re: Looking for information from anyone on Brenda Jean Somers
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In reply to:
Looking for information from anyone on Brenda Jean Somers
Andrew Brewer 8/17/05
We are not related to the family. We belong to Godfrey.org which has good obit files.
While the following is not realy an Obit. It does show that you have a legacy to be proud of.
Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) - June 18, 1993
Deceased Name: LILAC BUSH HONORS LIFE OF BRENDA SOMERS
Summary: Friends plant a memorial to the former homeless woman who was killed by a truck
The spirit of Brenda Somers was born again Thursday evening.
It came back as a lilac bush. A young one. Two thin trunks, four branches, maybe 40 bright green leaves, about three feet high. The flowers are now tiny buds. They will bloom into flowers next spring.
The bush is in a corner of the yard at St. Francis Dining Hall on Southeast 11th Avenue and Pine Street. Brenda's friends -- they think of themselves as a family -- put it there Thursday so they could think of her now and then.
It's all they have left. The Brenda Somers they knew best died 10 days ago when she was hit by a truck while walking with her husband, Rick. She was 41.
The lilac seemed to be a logical way to remember her, and the dining hall seemed to be the best place to put it. Everybody knew about Brenda and purple things. She loved to wear it, loved to look at it.
As for St. Francis, just about everybody who was important to her gathered there for a free meal now and then. Many of them were homeless, like she used to be. All of them were poor.
Thirty-eight of them gathered on the lawn outside the dining hall to say a little something, sing a little something, cry a few tears and lay a handful of dirt at the base of the bush. They didn't come to say goodbye. Brenda Somers hated the word; she preferred ''see you later.''
It was a perfect night for the occasion. It was warm -- over 70 degrees -- and a soft, steady wind blew in from the northeast. Perfect weather for growing lilacs.
Mike Henry read from the Book of Ecclesiastes in his beat up, red leather King James Bible. ''To everything,'' he began, ''there is a season . . .''
Shorty -- whose real name is Delitha Jones -- cracked everybody up when she read a letter from her husband, Sarge. It talked poignantly about Brenda's ''high octane coffee. And I mean high octane. It tasted like a mixture of diesel oil and high-grade jet fuel.''
Then Shorty read her own tear-stained letter. Blu -- just Blu -- wanted the true meaning of the lilac bush to be ''strength and durability.'' A man named Gary said he hadn't known her for very long, then couldn't think of another thing to say.
They all sang ''Amazing Grace.'' Every one of the verses. It was the only time during the service that Rick Somers broke down and cried. Tumbleweed's gentle grip on his shoulder seemed to hold him up.
Then they all put a little dirt at the base of the lilac. One by one, they got down to their knees, scooped up a double handful from a nearby pile, dropped it down and spread it with careful love.
Blu, who had been Brenda's neighbor under the Ross Island Bridge, grabbed his handful and held it against his heart. ''That means forever,'' he explained.
It all took only about 20 minutes. One by one, the mourners went back inside to eat chocolate cake off lavender napkins. Before she left, St. Francis director Peggy Taylor tied a long lavender ribbon to the tree. The last time anybody looked at it, the ribbon was dancing in the wind.
Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Date: June 18, 1993
Edition: FOURTH
Page: C06
Record Number: 9306180595
Copyright (c) 1993 Oregonian Publishing Co.
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Re: Looking for information from anyone on Brenda Jean Somers
Andrew Brewer 9/01/05