Sylvia Helen Doran's Obituary
Sylvia Helen Doran Walker died Friday, July 16, of complications following treatment for lung cancer. Mrs. Walker was living at Woodland Heights Assisted Living Center when she passed away.Sylvia was born in Tacoma, Washington to Roscoe P. and Marie Schmechel Doran on August 14, 1910. She moved to South Bend, Washington, in 1913 and to Hoquiam in 1917, the family following her fatherÂ's work as a Northern Pacific locomotive fireman and engineer. The family returned to Tacoma in 1923, and she graduated from Lincoln High School in 1928. She met Alfred Hayes Walker in Tacoma in the early  30s, and they were married on January 4, 1936, in Tacoma. They moved to Seattle where her husband worked as a shipÂ's crewman on Puget Sound. Her first child, William, was born in October, 1937. They moved to Port Townsend, Washington, early in 1942 where her husband was a deck officer on a US Army ship which served the coastal defense batteries situated at the entrance to Puget Sound. She had their second son, Richard, in 1943. The family returned to Seattle in 1947, after which her husband was a deck officer on various ships on the Sound, retiring as Captain of M.V. Coho. He passed away in 1992. Sylvia moved from West Seattle to Carman Oaks in Lake Oswego in 1999. Sylvia was an avid golfer, pianist, singer, bridge player, gardener and traveler. She began playing golf at Chevy Chase Golf Club near Pt. Townsend in 1943, and continued walking 18 holes at West Seattle Municipal until age 80. She was known for her accuracy around the greens, and used this to win several club championships; she also served as club president. She was a skilled pianist, and passed her love of music performance on to her children and grandchildren. Sylvia was a serious bridge player, and still had time to keep gardens at her various homes Â- a Victory vegetable garden during WWII, flowers afterward. She and her husband traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Africa, England and Western Europe, as well as to Hawaii every winter they were able.Sylvia is survived by sons and daughters-in-law William and Margaret Walker of Lake Oswego and Richard and Donna Walker and grandson David of Downers Grove, Illinois. Other living relatives are grandson Christopher and his wife Maia Low Walker and great-grandchildren Suscha and Ilah of West Seattle; granddaughter Jennifer and partner Paula Walker-Liddell of Tualatin, Oregon.There will be a graveside service at Mountain View Memorial Park in Tacoma on Tuesday, July 27, at 12:30 p.m. There will also be a memorial service in the Lake Oswego area, although the date for that is not yet set.Contributions to Our SaviorÂ's Lutheran Church, Lake Oswego, OR, or to a charity of your choice would be welcomed.
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