Vancouver Funeral

Tyler's Grandma Carson passed away at age 90 on September 19, 2018. He flew back to Vancouver, Washington to attend the funeral in October. 

Here is a view of mount on the trip from the Portland Airport to Grandma Carson's house

All of Tyler's immediate family were able to attend the funeral, in addition to all of his aunts, uncles, and most of his cousins from the Carson side of the family. While everyone was obviously sad that we wouldn't see Grandma Carson anymore in this life, we were all happy to see each other after so many years and celebrated Grandma Carson's life by reminiscing on all the fond memories we have of her. 

Tyler's family sang the hymn, "Nearer My God, to Thee" at the funeral service which took place at the local Methodist Church where Grandma attended. Here they are during one of their rehearsals.

Grandma Carson was buried in the cemetery next to her husband, Forrest Carson, who had died from an accident in 1971 and her youngest son Robert Carson, who died in 2014 from health problems. Here is a picture of all the surviving Carson children at the graveside service: Joyce, Linda, Kent, Marty, Greg, and Joe.

It was a very sweet service and Tyler had a chance to meet a lot of the friends Grandma Carson had from church. Tyler's dad even put together a slide show which was shown during the service highlighting some of the events from Grandma Carson's life

There was a wonderful turnout of friends and family to celebrate Dorothy's life. 

Here are some pictures that were on display at the funeral. These must have been taken before the youngest son, Robert, was born:

Grandma Carson's photo from her senior yearbook.

Tyler's other grandparents lived a short drive away so he was able to visit them during that trip also. Tyler's entire immediate family was able to attend the Portland Temple with Grandma and Grandpa Christensen.

After going to the temple the family went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Grandma and Grandpa Christensen moved into an assisted living center some years ago. Grandma's health had been declining in recent years but they had a very nice set up in their home.

Tyler was very glad to have the opportunity to see his only surviving Grandparents last October. (Grandma Christensen died in Early February and Tyler wasn't able to attend her funeral because he deployed to Afghanistan that same weekend.) 

While it was a sad, somber event which triggered this impromptu family reunion for Tyler and his family, they made some very happy memories during their time in Vancouver/Portland.