Lila June Ham died March 22, 2019 with her family at her side. She was born June 21, 1927 in Portland, Oregon to Viola (Shipe) and Bernard “Bert” Mansfield. She lived most of her life in Portland, and graduated from Franklin High School in 1945. She married her high school sweetheart, Donald Marvin Ham, on August 21, 1948. They had one daughter, Debbie.
Lila loved music. As a young girl she played the banjo, and her sister Lois played the guitar. They performed together, sometimes on radio programs. Lila was also a lifelong avid sports fan who enjoyed watching her husband, daughter, and grandchildren compete in their various sporting events. She loved watching TV sports coverage, too, especially golf, football, baseball, and the Olympics.
She worked for ESCO after high school, until her daughter Debbie was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for 12 years and then began working for the North Clackamas School District as a secretary at Sunnyside Elementary. She continued working as a head secretary in the school district for about 30 years, moving from Sunnyside to Linwood Elementary, and finally to Milwaukie Jr. High, where she retired.
After retirement, she and Don enjoyed traveling in their RV, making many trips to Don’s golf tournaments and various locations around the northwest. Every year after Christmas, they took the RV to Cathedral City, California and spent three to four months enjoying the sun and the friendships they developed there over the years.
Lila was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. She was preceded in death by her husband of nearly 67 years, Don Ham. She is survived by daughter Debbie (& Sheldon) Philips, her grandsons Kyle (& Cassera) Phipps and Tony Phipps, her granddaughter Tamara (& Tim) Gerald, her three great-grandsons Nolan Phipps, Reid Phipps, and Seth Gerald, and her great-granddaughter Olivia Gerald.
She was deeply loved and will be greatly missed.
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