Our beautiful Mom left this earth on a sunny December day. Anna Marie Deegan Gold was born in Dublin Ireland in 1937. She attended St. Catherine’s Convent primary school in Cabra and was an outgoing youth, making many friends in the neighborhood. She had a passion for reading which she kept for the rest of her life, and she loved to dance. As a teenager, she left home to work in Scotland and England, saving some money and sending money back home to help support the family.
She emigrated to the United States in 1960. She married Richard Gold in 1962 and together they had three children, Bridget, Debbie and Mike. They lived for a brief time in Georgia, Texas and California, before moving their young family to Portland in 1972. They purchased a house across the street from St. Rose Catholic Church where she and the family quickly made a home in their NE Portland neighborhood, enrolling the kids into St. Rose grade school and adopting St. Rose as their parish community. Over the past 47 years, four generations of Golds have belonged to the St. Rose parish, with Mom's home across the street as the anchor.
She believed in service, and was a member of the Pythian Sisters fraternal order. Her love of people led her to a career in the service industry where she worked at the Dublin House restaurant, Uncle Chen’s restaurant in downtown Portland, Memorial Coliseum, and for many years at JC Penney.
Family was the center of Mom’s life, and she cherished the time spent with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was committed to a good Catholic education for her children, and worked diligently to make that possible, always making sure that she was home from work by the time the kids were out of school. She was an Irish dancer in her youth, and when they were old enough, she made Irish dancing costumes for her own daughters and drove them to all of their practices and competitions. She placed a priority on attending her kids’ extracurricular events, and drove them to hundreds of soccer practices and games over the years, rooting them on rain or shine. Later, she extended the same commitment to her grandchildren’s events. Mom was always available to help out with her grandchildren, and loved to spend time with them. She had a lovely voice, and would often sing her children and grandchildren to sleep with a soft chorus of Toora Loora Looral. She would often send them off with “I love you, you nut.”
Mom wasn’t just our mother and granny to our own children; she was granny and mom to many of our friends and people in the neighborhood. We remember many times walking in the door for a visit and finding Mom in a grand chat with friends, neighbors and relations. Adult or child, Mom had many friends that over time became part of our family.
While Mom loved being at home, she also loved the occasional “adventure”, which is what she called it when they went for a drive and got lost in the days before GPS. She loved her "First Fridays" with her best friend and sister Margo. She looked forward to her weekly outings to JC Penney and was unmatched as a bargain hunter. She loved fish and chips and Taco Tuesday and the occasional pint of PBR. She was never far from her Irish roots which became even more evident when she got together with her sisters, or the Irish clan at St. Rose, and the stories about life in Dublin, along with many an Irish witticism, started to flow after a bit of wine.
Working in the garden was Mom’s therapy, and she loved flowers, especially her roses. She recently took up knitting again, and she loved playing Sorry! and Trouble with her grandchildren. She was a regular Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune watcher with her devoted and loyal dog Snickers cuddled under a blanket in her lap.
Mom was a very compassionate woman who always rooted for the underdog. She would start rooting for one team and if they were beating the other team too badly, she would start rooting for the other team. Mom was always a giving person, full of wisdom, faith, and joy, and she had a great laugh. She taught us to trust in God, keep the faith, do our best and let God take care of the rest. She touched many lives in her 82 years on this earth and the loss of this amazing woman will be felt deeply by her community.
At the moment, we are not sure how to go on without our dear mother. We do know Mom wouldn’t leave us here on our own. She brought us into this world knowing one day we would be left in good hands with each other and an extended family from here to heaven. Mom lives in all of us and we know she’s by our side every step of the way. That’s a Mother’s love.
We are grateful to Kaiser Hospice for their care and attention to our mother, especially Lisa and LuLu.
Mom is survived by her children Bridget (Frank) Rego, Debbie Gold, and Mike Gold; grandchildren Nick Sommerhiser, Matt (Ellie) Rego, Zach Rego, Jake Putney, Anna Rego, Tony Gold, Aidan Gold, Gracie Gold and Lily Gold; greatgrandaughters Fiona Sommerhiser and Mara Rego and her ever faithful dog Snickers.
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