Chloris Jeannette (Olivers) Strom

October 16, 1923 - January 14, 2018

Chloris Jeannette (Olivers) Strom Obituary Chloris Jeannette (Olivers) Strom passed away of natural causes early Sunday afternoon January 14, 2018, at Hospice of Spokane, following a short illness. She was 94, having been born October 16, 1923, in Kent, Washington, to Abraham and Clara Olivers, the first of three children (her brothers were Howard and Ronnie Olivers). Abraham had been born in Norway and originally named Abraham Skafflestad. He wanted to fit in to his adopted country, and thought that Skafflestad sounded too ethnic, so took his fathers name of Oliver and added the s to represent Skafflestad, the name of the home farm. Clara was born in Kent in 1897, and named Clara Ulleland (the name of her parents home farm in Norway). Her parents had come from the same area of Norway as Abraham, near the town of Naustdal. Chloris was raised on the family farm on the East Hill of Kent, and graduated from Meridian High School in 1941. She worked with the chickens and other animals on the family farm, and helped with other chores on the farm, which was serviced by an outhouse until around the time of her graduation. Her classmate, Marv Johnson, commented at her passing that Chloris was the smartest person in the class, and everyone knew it. Chloris did summer work in the Green River Valley, including picking strawberries on truck farms owned by Japanese Americans. She often commented on how disturbed she was by the internment, and loss of their property, by the farm owners during World War II. She tended to vote Republican because she valued small business, hard work, and fiscal responsibility. However, she was independent in her thinking, respectful of all races and cultures, and even voted to legalize marijuana in the State of Washington when close to 90 years of age, despite never using any such substance herself. She would have about a third of a glass of wine at Christmas, and then start giggling. She taught her three sons how to choke down the lutefisk prepared by her mother each Christmas, by rolling it up with boiled potatoes and butter in a piece of lefse. Chloris went off to a year of bookkeeping education at Edison Business School in Seattle (now known as Seattle Central Community College). Following that, she took bookkeeping jobs, with the main one being at Strains Auto in Kent. She was active at Kent Lutheran Church, and around early 1946 she noticed a guy that would attend church on occasion, and who was working with her father at Pacific Car and Foundry, building railroad refrigerator cars. Leonard Strom was about 14 years older than her, but that fact didnt faze her at all. They were married on January 25, 1947, at Kent Lutheran Church. In January of 1949, their first child, Dale, was born at Renton General Hospital. He had allergies like his father, so Leonard found a job at Bridgeport, Washington, working as a carpenter on the construction of Chief Joseph Dam. In his spare time, he built a couple of small houses on the Bridgeport Bar, and about a year later, Chloris and Dale joined him. A second son, Jerry, was born in September of 1951 at Brewster Hospital. Leonard enjoyed a bowling league and pitching on a fast pitch softball team. Chloris enjoyed her role as a homemaker. They moved to another (slightly larger) house, which Chloris was happy with, except for the snakes that loved the hot sun on the Bridgeport Bar. Chloris allowed her 6 and 4 year old sons to hike around the area, up to a mile away, as long as they were home in time for dinner. It was a different world in the 1950s. The family moved to Wenatchee in 1956, following the completion of Chief Joseph and the start of work on Rocky Reach Dam. A third son, Dean, was born in February of 1957, and the family bought a small house on Lindy Street, which Leonard fixed up. The family became immediately active at Grace Lutheran Church. When the dam was completed in 1963, Leonard took over a Shell service station on South Wenatchee Avenue, and soon Dale and Jerry were working there in the summers. Chloris was the Treasurer for Grace Lutheran Church, and wielded a wooden paddle to keep her three boys in line. She also made certain that they worked jobs such as mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling snow, being newspaper deliver boys, etc. She took most of the earnings, and placed them in college education savings accounts. Chloris was Norwegian frugal which is a form of frugal perhaps only exceeded by Scottish frugal. Leonard was not quite so frugal, and enjoyed a game of poker now and then, and in later years bought 3 Washington Lottery tickets every Wednesday and Saturday. Chloris did not do that. The parents encouraged sports activities for the three boys, along with Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Civil Air Patrol, ham radio, etc. Dale took a firearms safety course when he was nearly 15, and soon became the proud owner of a .22 rifle. The boys enjoyed hiking in the foothills around Wenatchee (as long as they were home in time for dinner). Dale only started one brush fire by throwing firecrackers, and it only burned up a couple of cherry trees in an orchard, despite flames that rose about 40 feet above the bone dry hillside. Chloris and Leonard were not happy, and admonished the boys to not do that again. When the boys were all graduated from high school, Chloris started back in college at Wenatchee Valley College, feeling a bit awkward at age 50 amongst 18 year olds, but completed as many accounting courses as she could. She got a job as an accounting clerk (no degree required) handing out food stamps for DSHS. Chloris was never judgmental, but wished that some of the recipients would try working, instead of not working. Soon, she used a combination of education and work experience to get an Accountant I position at the Washington State Highway Department, Wenatchee District. Native intelligence and hard work resulted in a double promotion at the age of 63, from Accountant II to Accountant IV, and the title of Head Accountant for the Wenatchee District, one of seven in the State of Washington. The job required monthly travel to Olympia and elsewhere. She managed millions of dollars in State and Federal funding. Chloris worked until 70 and a half, when she determined that it was costing her money to continue working, and began drawing her social security. Chloris and Leonard moved her 94 year old mother, Clara, from the farm in Kent to Wenatchee, and cared for her at home until the age of 98, when advanced Alzheimers meant she had to go into a nursing home for four months before passing away. That was a labor of love for them, especially since Leonard was in his mid-80s. After Chloris retired, she became even more active at the church, volunteering in the churchs respite program (day care for the elderly), including serving as president of the Respite Board when Chloris was 80 years old. She used her accounting skills to do a stint of tax return preparation work at H&R Block. Chloris continued to do private tax work for friends and family until the age of 88, when the beginnings of dementia made that impossible. Leonard had passed away when Chloris was 78, so she spent a number of years alone in the family home. Chloris liked college sports, including football and basketball, and grew to love the Gonzaga Bulldogs. She never wanted to miss a game on TV, and later got to attend a Gonzaga Mens Basketball Banquet, and met one of her favorite players, David Stockton. That was a huge thrill for her. Chloriss sons decided that she needed closer attention, so they moved her to Spokane in April of 2013, first living across the street from Dale, with Dean living with her part time. Later, she moved into half of the duplex where Dale was renting the other half, and persuaded Dale to purchase the property in January of 2016, securing their ability to stay close. Dales son Bryson, and wife Katie, moved in with her in February of that year, and Dean continued to reside there part time. This arrangement allowed Chloris to remain at home despite advancing dementia. That was a Blessing for all. Chloris enjoyed travelling, but was not able to do a lot of it over the years of raising children and working. There was a family vacation to Glacier Park, Yellowstone Park, and Mount Rainier in 1960, a trip to Alaska to visit relatives, two trips to Norway (one with her mother Clara, and one with her brother Howard), a trip to Hawaii with her best friend Arlowyn visiting Dean, who resided there at the time, a couple of trips to California to visit Jerry and family, including to granddaughter Jeralyns wedding (an adventuresome car trip with Dales two youngest daughters, who were Jeralyns flower girls), a trip to Tucson, Arizona, for grandson Brandons college graduation, some trips to Boise to visit grandson Bryson, and a trip to Cannon Beach with Dales family, then on with Dale to Fort Ransom, North Dakota (so that Dale could see where Leonard grew up), and seeing sites in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana on the return trip. Chloris was a talented writer of protest letters when she believed something was wrong. She didnt do that for general political reasons, but when unscrupulous insurance salesmen tried to sell her elderly mother (unneeded insurance policies) when Clara was still living on the farm, the State Insurance Commissioner heard all about it. You didnt want to receive one of her very pointed letters if she believed the family had been wronged. Chloris Strom is survived by her brother Howard Olivers and sister-in-law Delores (Birklid) Olivers, and by her three sons, Dale Strom (Spokane), Jerry Strom and wife Lynn Strom (Walnut Creek) and Dean Strom (Spokane). She is also survived by eight grandchildren, Jeralyn Twombley and husband Jeremy Twombley (Redding), Kyle Strom and wife Shannon Strom (Pacific Grove), Brandon Smith (NYC), Bryson Strom and wife Katie Strom (Spokane), Lacey Quick (Walla Walla), Lydia Pitts and husband Shaun Pitts (Spokane), Sophie Strom (Spokane), and Dorian Strom (Woodenville). Chloris is survived by nine great-grandchildren, and numerous cousins. The interment service for Chloris will be conducted by her cousin Duane Ulleland at Meridian Cemetery in Kent, Washington at 1:30 PM on Saturday, February 10, 2018. This will be followed by a 3:00 PM service at Kent Lutheran Church (Kent, Washington), with a reception immediately following in the fellowship hall. Memories may be shared in this on-line guest book. Memorial contributions may be made to Grace Lutheran Church (Wenatchee, Washington), Kent Lutheran Church (Kent, Washington), and to Hospice of Spokane.