Goodbye Sweet Gram

Bettie Doris (Currie) LeClere

Bettie Doris (Currie) LeClere, 86, died Monday, March 6, 2006 at Rosewood Court Adult Foster Care Home in Brookings of natural causes.

She was born April 29, 1919 to Joseph Alexander and Mary Ethel (Vincent) Currie in Eugene, Oregon.

Mrs. LeClere was raised and schooled in Eugene and Springfield where she spent most of her life working and raising her family.

She married Joe Prociw in Springfield in 1937 and they raised three children together. She later married Leonard LeClere about 1953 and they also raised three children together.

Mrs. LeClere was employed as a waitress at Seymour’s Restaurant in Eugene for a number of years before beginning at the University of Oregon. She retired from U of O in 1975 after being employed as the Housekeeper for the University President for about a decade.

After retirement she worked closely with the Springfield Police Department to develop a Neighborhood Watch Program. She attended a number of specialized classes and received various commendations from the police department for her involvement.

Mrs. LeClere was an accomplished seamstress and very good at needlework. She enjoyed crocheting, knitting, and cross-stitch and won first prize for her work at the Curry County Fair some years ago. She also liked hand-decorating ceramics and was very skilled at doing custom hand-drawn designs. She loved to read and was a fan of Louis L’Amour. She also enjoyed vegetable and flower gardening and specialized in growing irises.

She is survived by son, Larrie and wife Beverly Prociw of Roseburg; daughter Bettie Gaye Ridl of Anchorage, Alaska; daughter Donna and husband Jim Blunt of Brookings; daughter Cecelia and husband Layne Worlton, also of Brookings; son Dwayne LeClere of Kodiak, Alaska; and son Tim and wife Pamela LeClere of Winston, Oregon; fifteen grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren; and also twin brother Bert Currie of Anaconda, Montana.

She was preceded in death by her two older sisters and three older brothers, Wilma Roberts, Letta Bloom, and Arthur, Keith, and Ralph Currie.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 11, 2006 at Redwood Memorial Chapel, Brookings. Private entombment will be held later at Springfield Memorial Gardens in Springfield, Oregon.