The Oregonian - Aug/26/2009 Helen Margaret Keranen Keranen, Helen Margaret 97 08/31/1911 08/21/2009 Helen Margaret (Feazle) Keranen died at age 97 on Aug. 21, 2009, at the Jennings McCall Center in Forest Grove, where she lived for almost 11 years. Born in Astoria, she was raised in her father's logging "camps," which were small communities unto them-selves consisting of 100 loggers at times. Her father logged along the Oregon coast, Western Oregon and Washington as well as a short period of time in The Dalles. When she was old enough, she helped in the cookhouse alongside her mother. During her school years, her mother and the three kids would sometimes move into town if there wasn't a small rural school they could attend. She told stories about using every mode of transportation to get to the many schools she attended - she rode the work horses, her father's logging train, a railway handcart, car, boat, and sleigh and, of course, walked. She left high school to become her father's bookkeeper. Her parents lived long lives. Her father died at 81 years of age and her mother lived to just seven weeks short of her 107th birthday. Helen married Paul Elmer Keranen Nov. 11, 1933, in Portland; he died in 1998, a few months short of their 65th anniversary. Not quite three months before they married, while both were working at her father's logging camp along the coast, they barely escaped the devastating Tillamook burn in August 1933. While married, Paul joined the war effort during World War II and Helen stayed home raising their two daughters. When her daughters were small, she made practically all of their clothes on a treadle sewing machine. After World War II, she was one of the few to get an electric sewing machine. She liked gardening, sewing, handicrafts, holiday decorations and ceramics. She loved their getaway house at Cannon Beach, where she entertained her grandchildren during the summer. The family loved hearing the stories of her adventures growing up. In her later years, she began to write for her great- grandchildren stories based upon her own childhood experiences. She lived most of her life in Portland. She is survived by two daughters, Ardith Fauteck and Nedra Crocket; grandchildren, Michelle Pettit, Shelly Gurney, Janell Stewart, Samuel Fauteck and Shannon Carlson; and great-grandchildren, James Gurney, Alyssa Gurney, Bennett Gurney, Morgan Stewart and Audrey Carlson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul; younger sister, Verna Rosenberg; younger brother, Ray Feazle; and grandson, Brian Bishop. A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009, in Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home in Portland. Interment will be in Willamette National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the charity of your choice. Helen Margaret (Feazle) Keranen Willamette National Cemetery-Portland, OR 8 August 1911-21 August 2009 (As compiled by the Wahkiakum County Historical Society in 2010.)