Irene LaVonne Long was born in LaGrande, Oregon in 1925. She spent much of her childhood there and in Manchester, Washington. After she married Brad, one of their first homes was in Manchester in a converted real estate office - this often caused confusion, because the owner left the office sign displayed and people would knock on their door expecting an office ... not a home. Since dad was in the military, we moved every few years-spending 5 years in both Juneau and Anchorage, Alaska before statehood. In Anchorage, we lived on a small, remote station, miles from town. While we were there a nearby volcano erupted covering everything in ash and turning the morning black for several hours. We also lived in Asmara, Eritrea, Ethiopia in Africa during the reign of Haile Selassie. Our home there was always open to the GIs-usually coming on Sunday for a good meal and games around the dining room table. It couldn't have been easy following dad around the country, but with all the moving, mom became an expert at packing and marking boxes for shipping. Over the years she lived at more than 26 different homes. She enjoyed all kinds of handwork including artwork (charcoal and colored pencils), knitting and crocheting. She made beautiful doilies, baby sweaters, hats, booties and blankets. She also made a lot of our clothing and did alterations for people. While in her 80's, she crocheted over 100 bandages for the Red Cross, to help people with leprosy. Mom held church positions in most of the organizations in the LDS church. She loved to write letters and kept in touch with many dear church friends that she'd made from her travels. She will be missed by her family which includes 4 children, 14 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren and 38 great-great-grandchildren. Mom and dad used to sing together-one of our favorites was the chorus from the song Let Me Call You Sweetheart. The new words were created during a time when gas was being rationed. Original chorus from Let Me Call You Sweetheart: Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you. Let me hear you whisper that you love me too. Keep the love-light glowing in your eyes so true. Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you. Mom and dad sang: Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with your machine. Let me hear you whisper that you'll buy some gasoline. Keep the headlights glowing and your hands upon the wheel. I'm not in love with you poor fool, I'm in love with your automobile.
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