Jerrinne Kay Evenoff

Jerrinne "Jerri" Kay Ĕvenoff passed peacefully Wednesday night after being surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones. She is survived by three daughters, Suzanne Clary (Denny), Joslyn Cockburn (John), and Vicki Scharff (Andreas), one son, Mark Perry (Patsy), nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Jerrinne was born in Spokane to Zelda and Lester Valiquette on October 17th, 1933. She was fortunate that her father had a good job and was able to provide for the family despite the Great Depression. Jerrinne attended Audubon Elementary for Kindergarten, then Finch Elementary for 1st through 6th grade. She went to Havermale Junior High, followed by North Central High School, where she graduated half a year early in June, 1951. Jerrinne took secretarial studies in school, was a good typist, and was a good student and Zelda paid her for every “A” grade. She did typing assignments for other students (mostly boys), including some for Skip Pixley who later became principle at Sacajawea Junior High School. She also attended Washington State University, where she was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

After high school, Jerri got her first summer job putting catalogs together at Jensen-Byrd, a hardware store in Spokane. After a year at college, Jerri came home and worked at the Old National Bank as a secretary. She lived briefly in Atlantic City and for a little over a year Jerri had her favorite job – working for Robert Tisch, half-owner of Loews Hotels and Resorts. Later, she worked for the Employment Office of the State of Washington, then General Telephone in Spokane, eventually being promoted to secretary in Public Relations. Her last job was a secretarial position at Children’s Home Society of Washington, where she retired after 26 years of service.

She enjoyed gardening, and later in life enjoyed traveling to Europe, Mexico, Hawaii, New England, the southwest, many trips to Georgia, and cruises through the Panama Canal and to Alaska. She loved spending time with family and seeing all of her life-long friends at her North Central gatherings. She was loyal, caring, and protective of her mother, taking great care of Grams in her later years.

Jerri enjoyed life fully, always on her own terms. She never let anything slow her down. Her many, many lifelong friends meant the world to her and they were always loyal and true. She was a very caring and proud grandmother, wanting only the best for each of them. She was dearly loved by her family and will be missed by all.

A viewing will be held at Hazen & Jaeger Funeral Home, 1306 N Monroe St, Spokane, WA on Monday December 22, 2014 from 3-5pm. Services will be held Tuesday December 23, 2014 at 1pm at Hazen & Jaeger with burial following at Holy Cross Cemetery.