Billie Marie Wright

Billie Marie Wright was born Billie Marie Burger to Will and Euna Burger on March 13, 1925 in Milan, Washington. She died on August 18, 2017 in her favorite place in the world, Russellville Park, surrounded by her favorite people.

Billie led a full and exciting life. Her father worked for the railroad and she spent much of her childhood moving from place to place to follow her father’s work. One of her most vivid childhood memories was of living in a boxcar with orange crates for furniture. Her dad was a dapper gentleman who walked every day and lived to be 104. Her mom Euna was a schoolteacher and a staunch southerner. She was the one who kept the family in line, which also included younger brother Jack who preceded her in death.

After attending Whitman College for a year, Billie joined the war effort and headed to Hawaii. She worked at Hickam Field and it was there that she met Ross Craver, a Marine lieutenant and southern boy from North Carolina. They were married in a Hawaiian wedding ceremony in December of 1945. After the war, they returned to Ross’ hometown of Lexington, North Carolina. It was there that their two children Rochelle and Phil were born.

Billie and Ross divorced in 1958 and Billie moved her family to Boise, Idaho. She worked as a legal secretary and used to boast that she could type an entire page, complete with five carbon layers, on a manual typewriter with no mistakes. She met and married the father of her third child Douglas Allen while in Boise.

Fast forward to the mid-sixties when she was once again a single mom working to support her family. She met and married Pete Wright in the spring of 1966. They remained happily married until Pete’s passing in 2009.

Billie was best known for her abilities as a natural born teacher. She went back to college while raising three children and graduated from Eastern Oregon College in 1966. She was hired to teach English at La Grande high school and remained there until her retirement. Billie had found her calling. According to her students, she was one of those teachers who changed your life if you were lucky enough to be in her classroom. Up until her passing, she was still being contacted by those students, which is a great tribute to her teaching and people skills.

Billie and Pete moved to Portland upon their retirement to enjoy the pleasures of the big city and to be more centrally located. They made many friends in Gresham and Troutdale. Billie’s greatest love, after her family, was traveling. While teaching high school, she took groups of students all over the world during the summer break. Her adventures were many and her problems were few, due to her amazing organizational skills. After retiring, she and Pete continued traveling with friends to many exotic places. Her favorite travel memory was a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti. When Pete balked at the price, Billie stated, “I’ll mortgage the house if I have to but I’m going on that ride with or without you.” When Billie made up her mind, there was no stopping her.

After Pete’s passing in January of 2009, Billie moved into Russellville Park in Portland. When they described Russellville as an active retirement community, they had the perfect resident in Billie. She made friends with everyone and developed a special bond with a group of women who couldn’t wait to open the bar on the days when happy hour was available. Known as “the fun gals,” they kept things hopping with entertaining stories of their lives. Billie also went on every field trip, sometimes organizing the trip herself. She got residents interested in the Oregon Symphony, several live theatre groups, and many museums. Her motto was “why stay home when you can be out having fun?” Billie left this world almost exactly the way she wanted. She was diagnosed with cancer in late July and left us on August 18. She experienced only a few days of pain and those were quickly handled by Adventist Hospice, the most wonderful and caring group of angels that was ever born. They made her last days very special for both her and her family.

Billie is survived by her daughter and son -in -law Rochelle and Loran Wiese of Coquille Oregon, their children Jake Wiese and wife Lisha of San Diego, daughter Ashlee Wiese and her husband Keith Fortenbach and their children Cora and Cooper of Eugene: Phil Craver and his wife Anne of Dallas, Oregon and Phil’s sons Calvin and Andrew; Anne’s children James Wood, Rob Wood, Janelle Sutter and their families; son Douglas Allen of Huntington Beach, California and his son Chris Allen. She is also survived by Pete’s children Craig Wright, Scott Wright, and Marilyn Ashby of Portland and their families.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, please consider a donation in her honor to Portland Adventist Health and Hospice Services.