Anita Irene Webb

Notes:

Irene A. Lamme, August 9, 1921 - Aug 31, 2013 A short life story

Irene was born in The Dalles, Oregon and lived some time at the Shearer's Bridge Hotel, on the Dechutes River. Her parents were Amelia Marie (nee Taylor) and Ernest O'Hara Webb. Amelia was the granddaughter of an original California gold rush pioneer family, the Taylors. Ernest was the son of Ida Belle (nee Gouge) and Moses Webb, whose ancestry flows back through the American Revolution.

Irene went to school in Salem, where she met her husband Richard Paul Barton. They moved to Portland and had 4 children. When Marie was born in 1948, along came the Vanport flood. Their little house was ruined, so they moved to the Rocky Butte neighborhood, where she raised her children.

In the late 1960's, her marriage was dissolved and she took a new name, Lamme, in honor of her maternal Grandmother's family. She bravely started back to work with her rusty secretarial and stenography skills. After years of paying her dues, she was employed by a large downtown law firm. She retired about the time word processors reared their heads.

Next, Irene lived in a downtown apartment for 23 years and enjoyed the opera, symphony, great library, art exhibits, and the cafes of Portland. She was a creative seamstress, knitter and crocheter, as well as having a lovely singing voice and a talent for painting. But she enjoyed the company of her family the best--brunches at Roses or The Red Lion with pots of coffee and good conversation, noisy Christmases and birthdays in her tiny apartment. Many trips to New Hampshire to visit her sister Vivian.

She was a devoted Catholic and loved Holy Rosary Church. Even after her brain injury, she found her way there from downtown, on public transit.

In the spring of 2001, before her 80th Birthday, while walking near the Art Museum, she was knocked down by 2 little boys and suffered a traumatic brain injury, sustaining permanent inner ear damage and other problems. From then on, her life was more and more circumscribed and difficult. Even with almost complete blindness in one eye from glaucoma, and the head injury, she never complained.

She spent her last day and night at Park Forest Care Center in Hospice, near her beloved "Grotto." When she realized her life was not going to get any better, she released her spirit and left this world with the scent of flowers.

There is so much more to her. A self-educated woman, she straddled the mid-century and felt the excitement of positive changes for women and minorities. Her values were deep, spiritual, and very creative. She could be off beat and raunchy, or maddeningly traditional. At her best, she was quiet, shy, artistic, gentle with children and animals, highly intelligent--a physically and spiritually beautiful person.

Survivors include children: Paul Barton, Marie Barton, Kane Lauralynne Taylor, Christopher Barton; grandchildren: Rachael Frederiksen, Heather Barton, Annette Suh, Caleb Barton, Dave Riegert, Tanya Ehorn; four great-grandchildren; sisters: Vivian Morse, LaVelle Underhill, Delores Rhodig-Charles; brother: Wayne Webb; nephews: David and James; nieces: Jean LaVelle and Zipporah; and other extended family.


SERVICES
Interment
Gethsemani Cemetery, Portland, OR

Anita married Richard Paul Barton on 2 Jun 1942 in Salem, Oregon, USA, and was divorced in Late 1960's. Richard (son of Richard Don Malle Barton and Louisa Joyce Walton) was born on 25 Oct 1921 in Oregon, USA; died on 25 Jul 1984 in Oregon, USA; was buried in Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Paul Taylor Barton was born on 28 Dec 1944 in Marysville, California, USA; died on 15 Sep 2021.
2. Living
3. Living
4. Living

Ernest married Amelia Marie Taylor. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]