Denise Diane St. Clair

October 23, 1957- April 23, 2013

Denise was born in Boise, Idaho and was the daughter of Loren and Antonette (Jones) St.Clair. (Antonette goes by "Toni") Along with her older brother, Rick, the family frequently relocated throughout the western United States based on the location of Loren's next job site as a logger.

Denise was an adorable little girl who showed her strong will and independent streak as early as 9 months of age.About that time Toni bought a new house plant and placed it on the coffee table. She told Denise "not to touch." As soon as Toni left the room Denise started pulling off leaves. Toni came back, said "no" and swatted her hand. This was repeated several times. Finally Toni (while peeking around the corner), saw Denise lean over and tentatively reach out her hand again pulling it back several times. No way was she going to get her hand swatted again. But then Denise leaned over and removed another leaf with her mouth!

At 2 years of age Denise was being looked after by her Aunt Elaine while Toni was working at Lake Tahoe. After Elaine had dressed her in an adorable dress and put a bow in her tumble of dark curls, Denise decided it was time to "go out." She planned to take a walk to visit her mom at work. She walked 2 miles down the highway ending up at a small shopping center. She went inside a phone booth, closed the door, and found herself unable to get out. She had attracted the attention of a woman who wondered why this toddler was unattended? The woman called the police who quickly arrived. The police officer asked Denise where she lived. Denise said "behind Ran How Bah Bee Coo," Translation: Ranch House Barbecue. They didn’t understand that she was trying to tell them where she lived. Meanwhile, Aunt Elaine was terrified because her young charge had disappeared. She called Toni and explained the situation. Toni immediately called the police, who described the little girl they had rescued from the phone booth. Toni hurried to claim Denise at the ice cream parlor where the officer had taken her for a cone. She remembers Denise not getting a chance to finish her ice cream because, although tremendously relieved,

Toni was quite upset at her young road warrior. As punishment Toni inflicted the harshest discipline possible for Denise. She had to stay in bed until Toni came home from work. The torture, the inhumanity

Always one to appreciate a fine looking man, Denise had a toddler crush on Joe Cartwright of the hit show (at the time) Bonanza. At age 3 she decided to run away from home in search of "little Joe." She never was able to find him.

When Denise was 3 years of age her parents divorced. Toni and her kids moved from Lake Tahoe to Reno so she could look for a job that would sustain her family. Fortunately a temp job at the IRS turned into a full-time position.

Some time later Toni married Denise's beloved step-father, Gene Evans. He was a high school English, speech, and drama teacher. He met with Denise's approval because he resembled the very handsome actor, James Garner. Gene enthusiastically assumed the role as Rick and Denise's step-dad. In 1965 Gene was offered a teaching position in Hawaii. The family relocated and spent many wonderful years in paradise. Denise amazed many with her ability to hula dance as good, or better, than many native Hawaiian girls.

Denise's brother, Rick, had his tonsils removed when he was 6 years old. Although he was a big, strong boy he still wanted his mother to spend the night in his hospital room. At age 4, Denise had the misfortune of developing tonsillitis as well. Once again, Toni prepared to spend the pre-surgery evening in Denise's hospital room. After a short time Denise said "Mama, when are you going home so I can be alone with the doctors!"

Denise was very intelligent, but once she entered school they found that she was lagging behind the other kids. She didn't understand why she couldn't keep up. After many mis-diagnosis it was determined that Denise had a serious case of dyslexia. She saw words backwards and found it impossible to read. Her step-dad worked extensively with her. The two of them developed a system that counteracted the problem. Denise would read each word, mentally turn it around, retain it, and then re-read the sentence for meaning. Homework, tests, and reading took her over twice as long to accomplish. Despite this, as an adult she was able to succeed in the business world. She was tenacious and expected nothing but the best from herself.

Due to circumstances beyond their control (no details*) Toni, Rick, and Denise moved back to Portland.

Being a single parent, (hint*)Toni worked several jobs to support her children. Rick and Denise both learned independence at an early age. Toni allowed both kids to start baking at an early age. Her strict rule was that Rick and Denise stay near the oven when they were baking. One day Toni came home to the smell of baking cookies. She went to see who was in the kitchen. There was a pan of unbaked cookies ready to go. The timer was on for the cookies in the oven. Guess what? No kids. Just then the timer rang and Denise exploded through the door, sweat drenched and hair askew, clutching a toy rifle. She sprinted into the kitchen, yanked the oven door open and grabbed the baked sheet from the oven and threw in the new pan. Toni said "what's going on here? You are supposed to stay right here when you are baking." Denise replied, "but Mom, we are playing war and I’m the enemy. Anyway I’m staying close enough to hear the buzzer. I have to hurry and get back out there!" It was Denise, the enemy, against 3 boys that were the allies. One of Rick's friends told him that he wished he had a sister that played hard, like Denise.

At age 11 Denise was hanging out with her life-long best friend, Susan. Together they decided to "help" Toni by cleaning the house while she was at work. One of the projects they selected was to thoroughly clean the coffee table glass. The dynamic duo removed the heavy glass and laid it on the sofa to get a better angle as they sprayed it with glass cleaner. The girls were horrified when the glass split into two pieces. Denise told Susan "we have to get it fixed before Mom gets home." Denise started flipping through the phone book and found a glass shop on 82nd Avenue. She and Susan picked up the broken glass and headed for the store. They walked and walked. Every time Susan would ask "are we almost there?" Denise would respond "it's just a little further." Susan estimates they walked at least 5 miles. It ends up they had to return back home (5 miles again) still carrying the heavy glass. Toni assumes that Denise did not have enough money to cover the cost of replacement glass. When Toni returned home she asked the girls what had happened to the glass. Sheepishly the girls confessed. Toni said "oh well, at least you were cleaning." All that unnecessary worry! It was no big deal to Toni. Until a recent discussion with Susan, Toni had no idea the efforts the girls had taken attempting to resolve the issue.

When Denise was ages 15 to17 she spent the summers working for a local produce farmer. Her job entailed riding on a planter behind a tractor with 3 other “lucky” people. She planted hundreds of acres of various vegetables. She suspected her brother, Rick, might be interested in one of her planter co-workers that had become a good friend. Denise picked her (Becky) up each morning at approximately 5:30 a.m. using Toni's second car. Rick had just returned from his freshman year at OSU expecting to use the family car. He was not pleased when Denise told him if he wanted the car he would need to get her to work by 0-dark-thirty. He was further annoyed when Denise mentioned they would need to pick up a friend. That is, until the friend walked out the door. It was love at first sight for Rick. Denise was evidently a skilled matchmaker because Becky eventually became her sister-in-law.

Becky remembers the long summer days she spent with her planting buddy, Denise. Before the crack of dawn the girls would be packing crates with seedlings they dug up. When it got blisteringly hot it was time to climb on the planter to plant the young seedlings. They often worked until well past the setting of the sun. Darkness was irrelevant because the tractor was equipped with big spotlights that illuminated the ground behind the tractor.

Has it been mentioned that Denise had a fearless, feisty side? Well, she did. For a couple of years Denise shared a small rental house with her best friend, Susan. Like many young people they decided to initiate their home by having a party. No sooner than having invited a few close friends a virtual army of complete strangers descended upon their humble cottage. One stranger was very belligerent and was fouling the atmosphere. Denise got nose to nose with him backing him to his car articulating in a very clear manner that he was not welcome and never would be. Unbeknown to Denise her boyfriend, Don, was watching over her the whole time, much to Susan's relief.

In the years immediately following high school, Denise held various jobs. A favorite included one located in sunny Florida. She then started working for RGIS, a national professional inventory company. She worked for 13 years as a team leader. Denise practically worked 24/7. Upon getting a job completed she would get her team together and drive to the next job site while the crew slept in the van. When did Denise sleep? Obviously, not very often. She conducted inventories for various companies in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. She was an incredibly hard worker.

Denise held a special place in her heart for her Uncle Elton. Elton is a widower who was married to Toni's identical twin sister, Claudette. When Denise was looking for a better community to live in, Elton worked a deal with her. She made home-cooked dinners for him each day and kept his home clean and tidy in exchange for the use of part of his home at a reduced rental rate. Elton loved it, and Denise loved to share her talent for cooking with someone who appreciated it so much. However, Elton did incur a small expense.Because of Denise's cooking he had to have additional notches put in his belt to expand it. When the other half of Elton's duplex was vacated he offered to sell it to Denise at a reasonable price. She accepted the offer and invited her mom, Toni to move in with her. They were good for each other. Toni will miss Denise beyond anyone's ability to describe

At the time of her passing Denise worked as a Memo Reconciliation Clerk for Fred Meyer Jewelers. She worked at their corporate office, in the Department of Finance. She had worked with them 18 years. She was responsible for reconciliation of memo accounts. (maybe you will figure out what that means) and worked with 100+ vendors. Denise spoiled her co-workers by bringing in a tray (or trays) of outstanding cookies, cakes, candies, and other special treats. Everything she baked was made from scratch with the finest ingredients available. It was one way that she showed others her love for them.

As word of Denise's unexpected passing reached the many vendors she worked with, emails poured in to her office. A small sample of excerpts follows: "She was such a sweet person, always very helpful."; "Denise was a great person and I really enjoyed working with her."; "She was a lovely person and will definitely be missed."; "…she was someone who had a very pleasant demeanor and personality."; "…I will miss her candor and friendship."; "I especially felt a warm connection with her, enjoyed working with her, and will miss her beyond belief."; "..she was an amazing lady."; "Denise will be sorely missed by all who had the good fortune of knowing her."; "…although I never met her, I spoke to her frequently over the last 10 years and she was always such a kind person to me."; "My heart is broken."

The last comment sums up what many people feel about Denise's passing.

On the day we lost Denise the mold was broken. There will never be another like her.

A celebration of Denise’s life will be held Saturday, June 1, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. at Gresham Seventh Day Adventist Church, 223 SE Cleveland, Gresham, Oregon.

We welcome you to share any memories and stories.

A light reception will be held immediately following the service in the church fellowship room.

Contributions may be made in memory of Denise to the Humane Society.