Ena G. Lange

On a rainy, stormy night in Coffee Ground, Jamaica, Joseph Somers went for mid-wife Aunt Gus to deliver his fourth child. Ena, born on June 14, 1924, was a delicate child who suffered from asthma, yet her vivacious spirit kept up with the antics and teasing of brothers Leslie and Dermott. After attending the Sacred Heart School in Seaford Town, Westmoreland, she and a cousin left the countryside near Montego Bay, to work in Kingston. Her aunt Elsie and husband George Van Aken sponsored her to come to the U.S. for a better life. She arrived in Yakima, Wash., in November 1945. As Ena worked for a family, she learned more about cooking and entertaining while discovering her creativity. A pretty, petite young woman with the charming accent and bright smile, Ena’s suitors at church had returned home from war to work on their family farms and begin businesses. She chose Bernard “Ben” Lange, the quiet young man who would work earnestly to provide for her and their two daughters. The young mother became a naturalized citizen on June 4, 1954. Through the citizenship classes she met lifelong friends Herb and Fumi Iseri. In December of the same year, the family would travel by train and plane to Jamaica to meet Ena’s parents and family, to explore her island home and to eat new foods. Ena cared for others in the Summitview Manor Nursing Home, 1966-71, and later was an in-home caregiver for families in Leesburg, Reston, and Alexandria, Va. She returned to Yakima twice to care for her aunts Ida Brummett and Elsie Van Aken as their health declined. She was the first woman to be admitted to J. M. Perry Institute. They wrote of her as its “historic first woman student.” She graduated in the Restaurant Cook course of study on June 23, 1972. She worked in a restaurant until the pots became too heavy for her back. Family, friends and any who shared her table tasted her love. Whether it was bringing the children of the workers who were picking cherries, peaches and apples to their fruit ranch yard to be given sandwiches and fresh-baked cookies, sharing with neighbors her latest recipe or putting together cookie and sweet bread platters for Christmas, or insisting that whomever dropped by must stay for lunch or dinner, there was no hesitancy to share. When she moved to Virginia in 1977, she continued making Easter baskets for neighbor children, baking and decorating cakes for birthdays and special occasions, and making the favorite dishes of guests. She loved growing flowers and arranging them. A neighbor, the minister of the Westpark E.U.B. Church and she would trade dahlia tubers so their gardens grew in variety and color. With her daffodils, tulips, row of roses and other flowers, there was always something in bloom. She often spent Saturday afternoons arranging flowers for the Sunday service altar. She spent hours dyeing flowers to match a niece’s bridesmaid dresses and arranging Diane’s wedding bouquets. Birthday celebrations included her 75th in the Bahamas with grandsons James and Michael and daughter Carol. The surprise 90th birthday luncheon at Peking Gourmet with surprise guests James and Michael. Her 95th at nearby Hunan East Asian Bistro with family and friends. Her 97th birthday was celebrated at home — with Chinese food for lunch and afternoon birthday cake and ice cream — and friends and neighbors visiting her one to three at a time in her tv/sitting room, conversing, sharing memories and celebrating another year. Throughout her life she shared what she had. She was kind. She loved phone calls with her siblings, children and grandchildren, and her nieces and nephews. And in her last year, she only asked that her family show kindness. She is survived by her daughters Carol Lange of Reston, Va., and Diane (Wayne) Baker of Anchor Point, Alaska; sisters-in-law, Helen Lange of Kaneohe, Hawaii; Evva (Walter) Lange of Yakima; and Dolly (Leslie) Somers of Hagaman, New York; seven grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, nine great great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews in the Lange and Somers families. In addition to her parents, Joseph and Florence Somers, Ena was preceded in death by her brothers Leslie, Dermott, Randal and Kenneth and sisters Nona (Noel) Somers, Olga (Fred’l) Gardner, Inez (Edward) Gardner and Ismay (Thomas) Schmidt. Ena’s family appreciates the in-home physical therapists and caregivers in her last two years who brought companionship, exercises and care. She continued wanting to share homemade items and meals with them. Concerned that they were not eating rather than focusing on her own needs. It was her innate spirit that wanted to share what she had and to help in her own care with all the strength she had. We especially thank Dr. Padma Shukla for his decades looking after her medical needs and our neighbors Jennifer and Walter Dawson and Eva Graham for the love and assistance they gave her. A memorial mass will be held in Reston, Va., and a celebration of life in Yakima, Wash., at a later date. In lieu of flowers donations in Ena’s memory may be made to Yakima Union Gospel Mission (1300 N. First Street, Yakima, WA 98901) for their food program, Pasado’s Safe Haven Animal Rescue and Sanctuary (Sultan, WA 98294) for care of animals she loved, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105) or to a local group whose work you know helps others without personal profit.