Thursday, July 02, 2009

My Aunt Corine

This is for my Aunt Corine, and was printed in the Albany, OR & Coos Bay/North Bend, OR papers.
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Corine Shepard Ransom
Oct. 6, 1943 — June 24, 2009
Corine Ransom, 65, of Albany joined her family in heaven on Wednesday.

Corine was born in Galveston, Texas, to L. A. “Shep” and Evolyn (Durrett) Shepard. Her early years were spent in Clovis and Portales, N.M. In 1955, the family moved to Albany, where Corine was active in Swordbearers (youth ministry) and graduated from Albany Union High School in 1961.

She attended Oregon State University, then married and moved to California, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. She returned to Oregon in 1976 with her four children, and lived in the Coos Bay area for another decade.

Corine married Michael Ransom on June 22, 1978, at Shore Acres State Park near Charleston. She worked for the Department of Human Resources as a staff trainer, presenting workshops on bereavement and childhood cancer. She also directed the Big Brother/Big Sister Program, and volunteered with Candlelighters.

The family moved to Albany in 1987. Corine trained as a legal secretary, and worked for a Salem attorney. She retired in 2001, following a series of complications related to lupus.
Corine’s gift of wisdom led to 25 years leading women’s Bible studies in North Bend and Albany. She loved researching theological questions, and exhorting people to get beyond the “pat answers” by doing their own research. She was also an avid genealogist, researching and documenting her ancestral lines.

Corine is survived by her husband, Michael Ransom of Albany; sister Dixie Roylyn Emery of Fairbanks, Alaska; brother John L. Shepard of Albany; son David Ransom and wife Stacy of Eugene; daughter Susan and husband Jason Mikkelsen of Albany; grandchildren Dominik and Whitney Warren of Albany, Micaela and Emma Ransom of Eugene, and Scott, Kelly and Jacob Corliss of Eugene; nieces and nephews Josh Turnbull, Deidra White, Derek and Duke Shepard, Rebecca Sirevaag and Beth Emery; and numerous cousins across the United States.

Corine was preceded in death by her parents; sister Sharon (Shepard) Turnbull; brother “Mike” Shepard; and two daughters, Kristine Creek, 10, in 1977, and Debi Ransom, 20, in 1985, both at Coos Bay.A celebration of life memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 14, at Willamette Community Church, 420 Third Ave S.E., Albany.

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