Beth MacFarlane Gambs

I was born Beth Adele Mac Farlane on February 9, 1920, at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Baker, Oregon to Roy and Flora Mac Farlane. Shortly after my birth I was baptized and enrolled in the Cradle Roll Class at First Presbyterian Church. As I grew and attended Sunday School I had an attendance gold pin with many year bars attached. My mother was the organist for Church school and a teacher and active in the Improvement Society. My father was superintendent, an elder, trustee, clerk of the session, and active in the men's group. When I was sixteen I joined the Church, taught the three-year-old class, and was active in the youth group. I was the youngest of three girls. I had two older twins' sisters Doris and Dolores.

I graduated from high school in 1937 at Baker High School and went on to Baker Business College for two years. During that time I took the United States Civil Service Exams. In 1940, I received a telegram telling me to report to the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. for assignment. The baker in Baker heard of my appointment and asked me to come in to see him. He told me he wanted to loan me 500.00$ to be repaid in monthly installments. This was to establish my credit rating.

I was assigned to the Protocol Department where I learned about Foreign Embassies and Consulates. When the Japanese attacked we had to verify all Japanese Nationals working for the Embassy and Consulates in the U.S as they had to be safely escorted to their country. I was put in charge of a project that required issuing exemption cards, for all foreign nationals employed by their embassies or consulates. When the Germans and Italians became enemies we had to verify all their foreign nationals employed and they were put on a ship and escorted to Lisbon, Spain.

Bob enlisted in the Navy C-Bees and was assigned to Camp Perry near Williamsburg, Virginia. Bob and I had been dating for a number of years and in 1943 we were married in a little chapel in a Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. Bob was sent to a photographic repair school in Bronx, N.Y. so I resigned from my job. From there we were sent to Pensacola, Florida. In 1945 I became pregnant with our first son Jon, and Bob took me back to Baker to be with my family. At the end of the year he was discharged from the Navy.

We bought a home in Baker, Oregon and he reopened his own photographic studio, we settled down expecting to be small business owners for a long time. We had our daughter Mary in 1949 and discovered shortly after that Bob was allergic to the solutions used to develop the pictures.

In the fall of 1949 Bob enrolled at the University of Oregon and I followed in 1950. He was under the G.I. Bill and was able to finish and get his degree in business and did the academic work for his masters. After graduation Bob went to work for Sunset Business Forms and we had our second son David in 1953. Shortly after David's birth the company Bob was working for transferred us to Portland. We had our church letters sent from the Baker church to Central Presbyterian church in Portland, Oregon. Mona and Jack Merrit took us under their wings and we were Clipper Clubbers before we knew it. Bob became an Elder and Trustee and I became a teacher and Deacon. In 1957 our youngest son Donald was born.

As the children grew we became involved in their school and after school activities. Bob was a Boy Scout leader, and me, a Den Mother for our three boys; I was also a Girl Scout leader for our daughter Mary. After our four children graduated from high school they all either chose college or went into the Military. Our youngest son Donald made the Navy his career.

After raising our four children and about the same time as Central and the 47th Street churches merged, my mother and Aunt could no longer live independently, they moved into our house so that I could care for them. Some years later Bob's Aunt needed assistance so she came to live with us. In 1978 we had two granddaughters born two weeks apart which I also cared for until they were three years old. My elders and granddaughters kept me busy for about ten years. When I came back to church I re-joined circle and Deacons. In 2002 I moved to Vancouver, Washington to live with my son Jon and daughter-in-law Karen where I have been very happy.

Bob and I had four children, one grandson, eight granddaughters, and 15 great grandchildren.