Joyce Ann Bauer

Joyce lived in Denver until she was 6, then moved to Richmond California with her mother and brother Jim, to stay with the paternal grandparents while her father served in the Merchant Marines during WWII. After he returned home, the family moved to Portland, Oregon.

Joyce attended Gresham High School, graduating in 1953. During her last year of high school, she met her future husband, Peter “Pete” Bauer, at a friend’s wedding. They were married on September 4, 1954. Daughter Michelle, arrived in 1955 and son Kurt arrived in 1956. Their third child, Peter Preston, was sadly stillborn in 1961. In 1963 Joyce and Pete moved to Walter’s Hill in Gresham Oregon where they lived until 1970, then moved to Estacada Oregon and established Bauer Tree Farm where they farmed Christmas trees.

Joyce began her career working for Fred Meyer by ordering and stocking the store shelves of the bakery department. Later, she was hired to work in the main bakery office coordinating the individual bakery orders needed for all of the Fred Meyer stores. After retiring from Fred Meyer in the early 90’s, she learned to play golf and enjoyed playing with friends and family. She and Pete also had wonderful travel adventures to Canada, Hawaii, Mexico, Russia, Panama Canal, the Caribbean and many National Parks in the USA. In 2000, they returned to Gresham, living there for half the year and snow-birding in Cape Coral, Florida the other half.

Joyce had an amazing green thumb and enjoyed the diversity of gardening from vegetables to flowers and belonged to the Gresham and Estacada Garden Clubs. Besides traveling, she loved live theater, concerts, lunching with friends, hosting holiday get-togethers and spending time with her family, especially her great-grandsons.

Joyce was preceded in death by her parents, her brother and a son. Her husband Pete, passed away in 2008. She was very much loved and will be greatly missed by her surviving children, Michelle Smith (Carlos) and Kurt Bauer (Lori); sister, Julie Altman (Buzz); granddaughter Becky McWrightman (John) and great-grandsons Peter, Ewen and Henry.

A Celebration of Joyce’s life will take place at a later date this summer. Donations in Memory of Joyce Bauer may be made to The Alzheimer’s Association, your local Garden Club or Botanical Garden, in lieu of flowers.