Louise Sylvia Grande

March 18, 1934 - August 27, 2023.

A graveside service will be held at 1:00 pm on September 8, 2023, at Lone Fir Cemetery, Portland, Oregon, for Louise Sylvia Larsen Grande, who died August 27, 2023, at age 89, from dementia-related illness in Eugene, Oregon. The service will be followed by a gathering at Nordia House.

Louise Larsen was born March 18, 1934, in Santa Barbara, California. She graduated from Santa Barbara High School and Pacific Lutheran University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. She married Walter R. Grande in 1957. They spent 42 years together in Portland before Walt’s death in 1999.

Louise is survived by her son David (Debi), from Chandler, Arizona, and grandsons Cody and Craig; daughter Diana (Tom), from Eugene, and grandsons Douglas and Eric; brother Paul Larsen, from Santa Barbara, numerous nieces and nephews, and many cousins in Sweden and the United States. She was preceded in death by her father Otto W. Larsen, mother Ebba C. Karlsson Larsen, and sister Astrid M. Larsen Hammett, all of Santa Barbara.

Louise graduated from Pacific Lutheran in 1957 with fifteen other nursing graduates who remained friends for life. They would gather regularly for reunions in the Puget Sound area. Louise did not work very long as a nurse, but she used her nursing skills with her children and the neighborhood kids. Once she was called to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for a neighbor down the street. With Walt’s health issues, her nursing skills allowed her to help him navigate multiple surgeries and his many medications.

Louise was a lifelong learner and teacher! Hundreds of students of all ages learned from Louise through her volunteer work including 14 years teaching children’s Sunday School and 4 years teaching adults as a Bethel Bible leader at Central Lutheran in Portland. When the family basement was not being used for Girl Scout or Cub Scout meetings, she taught 12 piano students. Louise also enjoyed being a reading tutor at Bridlemile School and with Oregon Literacy. She later taught ESL classes to students from Portland Taiwan Lutheran Church.

Although she taught David and Diana two songs about the Big and Little Dippers, weekly visits to Grandma’s house by her grandsons Douglas and Eric led to the start of her songwriting career! Louise enjoyed teaching them about the constellations and planets with her 33 songs. Both boys were proud to have Grandma come to their schools to teach the other students. She went on to write another 26 songs including songs naming all 50 states, The Great Lakes, The Bridges of Portland, and The Speed of Light (186,282). If she found something she wanted to learn, it often led to a song to help her remember.

In 1961, Louise was inspired to memorize the entire Book of Romans. Each morning she would place Diana in her playpen and make sure David had an assortment of toys as she held her heavy Bible and paced back and forth in the living room repeating verse after verse over and over. Eleven months later she had completed her memorizing, which she refreshed for the rest of her life. A favorite activity with her sixth grade Sunday School students was Stump the Teacher. Each student would read a passage and Louise would tell them the chapter and verse! She related that one boy began reading and she told him that verse is not in Romans. He was so disappointed that he couldn’t stump his teacher.

Louise also memorized the Book of John. She inspired many when she recited the scripture verses during worship services at Central and St. Luke Lutheran churches. She always chose the Sundays when Romans or John were the lessons. It would only take a few verses for the congregation to realize that Louise wasn’t reading but had the verses committed to memory.

Louise was meticulous, and many people commented on her perfect handwriting. Louise took detailed notes during her phone conversations, and every response included a story. She rediscovered baseball and kept score with her own extensive notations in her scorebook. Her beautiful flower photography delighted friends who received the photos on her many greeting cards. Louise was thrilled when her framed flower pictures finally adorned the walls of her apartment. Those lucky enough to be on her holiday list received individually-wrapped krumkake, spritz, and angelica cookies. Her Swedish meatballs were a two-day project, but eating always needed to wait for the proper aging of the allspice.

Louise supported these non-profit groups for many years. If you like, please direct memorial gifts to St. Luke Lutheran (Grauer Back to School Project), 4595 SW California St, Portland, OR 97219; Smile Train (cleft palate surgery for children), 633 Third Avenue, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10017; and Crazy Horse Memorial, 12151 Avenue of the Chiefs, Crazy Horse, SD 57730.