Edith Kelly

Edith Busch was born in Lincoln, Nebraska to parents Henry and Marie (Arndt) Busch on September 6, 1917. When Edith was only 3 years of age, her family relocated to the Portland, Oregon area. Edith lived in Portland for the rest of her life. She had two sisters-Alma and Lucile; and she had two brothers Rudolph “Rudy” and Edward “Ed”. Edith was raised in a home on Failing Avenue in Northeast Portland and she graduated from Jefferson High School.

At the age of 19, Edith married Harry Searle on May 22nd, 1937 in Portland, Oregon. They had three children: daughters Darlene, Patricia, and Kathy. Edith led a very busy life in her younger years. She was not only a mother to three children, devoted wife and homemaker; she worked outside the home as a salesperson for various retail department stores. She worked for Olds and Kings, Rhodes, Liberty House, and Meier and Frank. Edith loved to dance and to visit the dance clubs in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. In 1964, her husband Harry passed away. In 1966, Edith married C. Robert Kelly “Bob”.

Edith will be remembered as a lovely, upbeat woman with a twinkle in her eye and as someone who truly knew how to have fun. She was a beautiful red – head with very fair skin and stunning green eyes. She will be celebrated for the laughter and fun that she instigated and for the love, kindness and joy that she brought to every one she touched. Edith was an excellent cook and she was most notably famous in her family for her home-made noodles. Her grandchildren loved her buttermilk pancakes. She was an avid gardener and could grow anything anywhere - and in the smallest spaces. As an apartment

dweller, she had green beans growing on her patio fence and also grew tomatoes and sweet peas. In her younger years, Edith bowled on a bowling league with her sister Lucille. Edith did not consider herself as an “out – doorsy” type, but she very much liked visiting the Oregon Coast. She and Bob made several trips to the coast to dig for clams. Edith loved to follow televised sports – her favorites were basketball, golf, and tennis. She loved to watch Tiger Woods and follow his statistics and she was a huge Portland Trailblazers fan. She knew the name of every Blazer player and loved to watch them play and follow them throughout the season. Edith enjoyed travel; she visited Europe, Hawaii, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Mexico, and she made countless visits to be with her daughter in California. She also visited New York City on her 80th birthday (specifically to visit The Today Show) and incidentally appeared on National TV during the broadcast.

Edith is predeceased by her parents; first husband Harry; second husband Bob; daughter Kathy Hansen; brothers Rudy and Ed; sister Lucile McMullin; and great grandchild Elle. Survivors include her daughters Darlene Bossen (husband Dave) and Pat Kopczak (husband Bill); her five grandchildren: David, Rick, Jan, Julie, and Cassie; her nine great-grandchildren: Laura, Aaron, Alisha, Megan, Brittini, Courtney, Kaitlin, and Emily, and her seven great-great-grandchildren Brady, Larry, Kylie, Alex, Evangelee, Elowyn, and Weylin. A celebration of Edith’s life will take place in Skyline Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home, 4101 NW Skyline Blvd., Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, April 6, 2013, at 11:00 AM. The chapel service will be immediately followed by a graveside committal service in Skyline’s garden of the Good Shepherd. Please revisit this site for updates to Edith's Internet memorial and Obituary. Please make an entry into her online guestbook located at this site. Thank you.