Magdalene (Midge) Wales passed away on April 18th, 2018 at Kelly Creek Adult Care Home in Gresham, Oregon at the age of 98. She was born on March 26, 1920 in Portland, Oregon to Joseph and Mary Canich and joined her brother, Michael, and sister, Mary. Her brother John completed the family. She attended Holy Rosary Catholic School and spent two years in high school before leaving due to family matters. When World War II started, Midge began working at the shipyards in General Stores and even did plane spotting. After the war, she started working at Eastman Kodak where she met future husband, Robert Wales. They were married on February 2, 1947 and welcomed their only child, daughter Joan, on December 15, 1949 (her sister Mary’s birthday). She then became a full-time homemaker and devoted mother.
Her fondest memories were of the many camping trips she and Bob took in their Conestoga camper to many different areas in the Northwest. In 1977, they moved to East County to be nearer to Joan and her husband, Bill. But Bob died in 1980 and Midge never remarried. So in 1985, she, Joanie and Bill built on to their house in Gresham and Midge moved in. Until 2001, she walked five days a week from the house to downtown Gresham and knew almost everyone in between. She never learned to drive and said everyone should be grateful for that!
Midge had many interests: gardening, reading, music, rock collecting, golf (even though she never played a day in her life) and the news. As she admitted, she had an addiction to the news (especially CNN). But one of things she loved most was feeding the squirrel population in Bella Vista Park. There was only one name for every squirrel and that was “George”.
An incredibly healthy woman for most of her life, she started to have age related problems in the early 2000’s. Hip replacement and colon surgery basically put an end to her walking, except to the park. In December of 2017 she fell at home and stayed in the hospital and skilled nursing for almost a month. In January of 2018 she went to live at Kelly Creek where she passed away in April. They family would like to offer their heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Elisabeth, Daniel, and Zena at Kelly Creek for their gentle and loving care. It would be difficult to find a better place for a person to be at that stage of life. And many thanks to the wonderful staff from Providence Hospice: nurses Carrie and Michelle, Social Services Lynette, and Rev. Wilfred. Their visits provided excellent physical and spiritual assistance that she appreciated so much.
Midge passed away on Wednesday, April 18th, with her daughter by her side. She is survived by her daughter, Joan Wales Humbert, and beloved niece and nephew, Marida M. Torrey and Michael Torrey (Marlene) and all her wonderful neighborhood and family friends she made through the years.
She will join her husband at Willamette National Cemetery in a private family ceremony on May 2nd.
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