Corry E. Stolk

Corry's life is the stuff that novels are made of: She left her native country for love and lived halfway around the world until moving to the U.S. with her husband and two young sons.

Born and raised on the big island of Java in Indonesia, Corry met a man serving in the Dutch navy, Dirk Stolk, who was stationed there, and they got married six months later. They planned to move to his native Holland together, but when he was ordered to stay longer in Indonesia, she went on ahead for a year until he could join her.

They lived in Holland for 11 years and had two sons, Alex and Ferd.

Corry already had family members in the U.S., they came here when the boys were 9 and 5. Corry had a brother living in the Portland area, and the Stolks moved to a farm in Yamhill County, where they raised chickens, alfalfa and more, while Dirk also worked in Portland and Corry was a nurse's aide.

After years on the farm, they moved to Tigard, and Corry went back to school to become a registered nurse. After she later hurt her back, Corry went to work for the American Red Cross as a "blood-sucker."

Dirk died in 1988 after they had been married for 41 years, and Corry retired from the Red Cross the same year. She moved to King City in 1990 and started volunteering at the Tigard Senior Center, checking people's blood pressure when the center was still located in a local church.

Corry also served on the center's Steering Committee and volunteered at the foot clinic and in the gift shop.

She was a longtime fixture at the senior center as well as in Tigard and King City, Corry had friends everywhere.

Corry is survived by sons, Alex (Debbie) of Dayton, Oregon and Ferd (Sue) of Milwaukie, Oregon. Grandaughter, Danielle; grandsons, Brad, Ryan and Blake; great grandchildren, Curran and Charlotte. She has three surviving siblings in Holland, one in Whidbey Island, Washington and one in Hillsboro, Oregon. SHe also has many nieces and nephews.