Arminda Markham

Arminda was 93 years old at her passing. She is survived by her husband, Wayne Markham, of 66 years, her children Beverly Francom (Gregory Francom), Charles Markham, Bonita Peterson (Todd Peterson), Cindy Markham, and Gary Markham (Debora Markham), ten grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Arminda was born on March 18, 1932, in Laredo, Texas, where she spent her childhood and youth. In the 1950s, her family moved to Ontario, Oregon, for better work opportunities. There she met Wayne Markham. After a year of courtship, they married in the Los Angeles, California, temple on September 23, 1958.

Wayne’s teaching positions in the next several years landed them in the small towns of Jordan Valley and Vernonia, Oregon. Along the way they welcomed five children: Beverly, Carlos (d. 1962), Charles, Bonita, and Cindy. In 1969 the family moved to Portland, Oregon. At this time, Gary was the newest and last addition to the family.

In 1972, the family moved to Oregon City, Oregon, and lived there until 2015 when Wayne and Arminda moved back to their “home roots” of Ontario for several years, after which they sold the homestead and returned to the Willamette Valley in 2020.

Arminda served several missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In her single years, she served an 18-month proselyting mission in San Antonio, Texas, in 1956. She served two couples missions with Wayne to Honduras and Guatemala from 1991-1993 and on a church educational mission to Fiji from 1997-1999. They also served a local mission in the Oregon City Stake as a support couple in the Spanish Branch.

She served in various callings in the church, including a genealogy name-extraction program, using microfiche records written in Spanish and training others in this capacity.

She worked for Pendleton Woolen Mills as a weaver and textile worker from 1973 to retirement in 1989.

Arminda lived a very full life with varied talents and interests. Music was an important part of her life. Singing brought her great joy, whether it was at church, with family, or in her personal time. She provided her children with the means to cultivate their musical talents. She shared her talent of cooking, especially Mexican cuisine. She became skilled at preparing any type of meal. Arminda prepared food with love – love of food and love to her family. She was also an artist at heart; it was manifested in her creative sewing skills. Her children and grandchildren received her beautiful handmade clothes over the years, including wedding dresses for her daughters, a grand-daughter, and nieces. She also turned her talents toward sewing doll dresses for the American Girl doll; she sold many doll dresses online and received much joy from creating them.

Her love and kindness touched all who knew her. She will be greatly missed.