Natalie Eleanor Frederick

Natalie Eleanor Wiese was born as the first child of Ralph and Maureen Wiese on September 9th, 1981 in Bend, OR. Her only sibling, Kristina, would be born into the family about four years later.

The family’s work moved them from Bend to the Eugene area to Woodinville, WA to Gresham, and then Ralph and Maureen settled into their current home in Troutdale where Natalie attended Sweetbriar elementary school, Walt Morey Middle School, and then graduated from Reynolds High School. Natalie was involved in numerous activities during her school years including playing on both school and club volleyball teams, cheerleading, and being heavily involved in the band program at Reynolds as both a clarinet player for the large ensemble as well as the drum major for the marching band. Natalie was gifted academically finishing as a valedictorian of her class in 1999 at RHS and one of the few selected to give a speech at the graduation ceremony.

It was during high school that Natalie got a part-time job at Act III Cinemas in Gresham, OR and began what would become a fifteen year stint working at and managing various movie theatres. It was the summer of 1998 when the Stark Street Cinemas in Gresham was opened that Natalie transferred in as a concessions supervisor of the original staff and also met a co-worker named Paul Frederick--who was merely an entry-level employee.

After graduation, Natalie moved to Corvallis to attend Oregon State University--and she worked at the small Corvallis movie theatres while she was a student there. After a stint in the dorms, Natalie joined the Kappa Delta sorority at OSU and moved into the sorority house.

Sometime in Middle School and High school Natalie had become a Christian. She would say she was influenced by a neighbor family she babysat for and later some friends who she attended youth group with at times. When Natalie and Paul became closer friends later in their Senior Year of high school, she began attending Good Shepherd church and its College Ministry with him. However, in college at OSU is where she would attend several campus bible studies and chose to be baptised on her own.

Before going off to college at OSU, Natalie and Paul transitioned to dating from being friends and co workers at the movie theatre. A little more than two years later, Natalie and Paul were married at Good Shepherd Church on August 5th, 2001. Natalie was studying elementary education at OSU, but since Paul interrupted her school plans with his proposal and moving back to Portland, she transferred to PSU--a school she never loved--and finished her undergraduate degree in Child and Family Studies with an option in Elementary Education. However, she never stopped identifying as an OSU Beaver. After graduation, Natalie continued working at movie theatres, became a general manager, and was the primary income earner for a number of years while she enabled Paul to take a less-focused route in his own education.

Natalie and Paul bought their first house in Troutdale, OR, and after five years of marriage, she gave birth to their oldest son, Joshua. Natalie was a full-time working mother--interrupted by maternity leaves--as she continued giving birth after Josh to Caleb, Ethan, and Lucas in a total span of about six and a half years. She would later reflect about those years being quite a blur in terms of the specifics of the day to day of parenting and working.

Prior to having children, Natalie was on-staff part-time at Good Shepherd church for a year in their children’s ministry. This began a long history of children’s ministry service she continued at Coram Deo church when Natalie and Paul were a part of its beginning in Gresham and then at Cornerstone Church where they spent 13 years worshipping and serving while all four of their children were born and growing up.

By this time Paul had become a high school teacher, and Natalie was able to slowly transition out of full time work to focus more on the children. But, she was rarely without some kind of employment, and she often had two or three part-time jobs that she added to taking care of her family. Industriousness was part of her nature. While being a full-time wife and mother of four, she worked as a substitute teacher, the Corbett School PTA treasurer, a board member for the Boxes of Love charity, business partner to Paul at their childcare/preschool center, and children’s ministry lead for her last church community, Hollyview, around half of the six years she attended there.

Her personal passions were her children, their activities, family game nights, traveling, and reading. She was also a part of numerous book clubs and bible studies with the women she felt closest to over the years.

In her final illness, she never had fear. She mentioned several times in her optimistic hope that “The Lord knows the number of my days.” The day before her death, she remarked, “This really went fast. It looks like this weekend I’ll be partying with Jesus.”

Until we have a chance to join the party, amen.

Natalie is survived in this life by her husband Paul; her four boys Josh, Caleb, Ethan, and Lucas; their dog Ziggy; her parents Ralph and Maureen; her sister Kristina and her husband Zach; two nephews; her grandmothers Eleanor and Kathy; her grandfather Randy and his wife Jo; 6 aunts plus spouses; 11 first cousins; and other extended family.