Cindy Lynn Gaulke

Cindy was the first-born child of “Millie” Dyal Gaulke and Gary Lynn Gaulke, who was stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma for six months to complete required basic officer training following ROTC. Other than those first few months in Oklahoma and a few months as an adult in D.C., Cindy lived her entire life in Oregon. She grew up in the Gresham and Boring areas, and graduated from Sam Barlow High School in 1978. She graduated from Oregon State University in 1982, with a bachelor’s degree in Business Education.

Cindy began her professional career at Rogers Cablesystems in Portland, working in the administration office, and soon settled into living in Northeast Portland, where she lived for the next nearly 4 decades. She spent the bulk of her working life at Portland City Hall, where she worked as Scheduler for (then) Commissioner Earl Blumenauer, followed by Commissioners Erik Sten and, for short time, Nick Fish. When Representative Blumenauer was first elected to Congress in 1996, Cindy was part of his staff that went with him to Washington, D.C., to establish his office there. Cindy spent the last several years of her career at Portland Fire & Rescue, where she worked in the administrative offices on Special Projects.

Chronic health issues caused Cindy to retire in 2015. With her time off, she worked on improvements to her 1930s Portland home, became an avid paper crafter, and indulged her lifelong loves of books, old movies, and watching baseball and football. Although never a smoker, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019.

Cindy was a vital and much-loved part of her family, spending nearly every holiday, birthday, graduation, celebration, and numerous vacations over the past nearly 3 decades with her sister, Kim, and her brother-in-law, Stan, and her two beloved nephews, Zach and Ben. She achieved her goal of attending both of her nephews’ weddings in the past year. Cindy was a devoted aunt, and successfully passed on to her nephews her love of football and all things OSU Beavers.

Cindy’s parents preceded her in death in 1998. Cindy leaves behind her sister, Kimberly Tellin, and brother-in-law, Stanton Tellin, of Beaverton, her nephew, Zachary Tellin, and his wife, Ashley Tellin, of Gresham, and her nephew, Benjamin Tellin, and his wife, Brisbane Tellin, of Portland, all of whom miss her greatly, as will her extended family and friends.

A celebration of Cindy’s life will be held Saturday, January 14, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. at Finley-Sunset Hills Mortuary, 6801 SW Sunset Hwy, Portland, OR 97225.

Suggestions for contributions in Cindy’s memory are to the American Cancer Society or the American Lung Association.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.finleysunsethills.com for the Gaulke family.