Loretta Susan Noble

Loretta Susan Noble, age 85 of Beaverton and formerly Cove, died August 2, 2006. A funeral service will be held on Monday, August 7, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. at Daniels Chapel of the Valley. Interment will follow at the Cove Cemetery. A viewing will be held on Sunday, August 6, 2006 from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at Daniels Chapel of the Valley.


Loretta Susan Craft was born April 11, 1921 in the Ozark hills near Cassville, Missouri. She grew up in a time when it was not uncommon to spend your whole life in the same area you were born. Even though family members had to sometimes walk twenty miles or more to visit, Loretta's early memories were filled with the faces and voices of her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her beloved grandmother, Mollie Fogg Stansberry.

Loretta's parents, George and Lula Stansberry Craft, couldn't provide much in the way of material goods, but they consistently gave her and her brothers and sisters a most important gift: They taught by example, always putting their childrens‘ needs ahead of their own. This was a lesson Loretta lived daily from the moment her eldest child, Carol June, was born, and continued until the time of her gentle passing, on Wednesday, August 2, in Hillsboro, Oregon. Her last words and thoughts were of her children and sister, comforting them with her certain knowledge that "in the twinkling of an eye, we will all be together again."

Although she loved school and remained an avid reader her entire life, Loretta's formal schooling ended her freshman year, working for neighbors whenever she could to help her family. During WWII Loretta worked on the first B-29 ever made, at Boeing in Wichita, Kansas. It was there, on September 25, 1943, that she married the only man she ever loved, Harold Clifton Noble. Harold was still in the service at Ft. Riley, Kansas, when their first child, Carol June, was born. Loretta's faith was shaken when she learned Carol, or "Sissie," was born with Down Syndrome and wasn't expected to live. When Sis outlived the doctors' predictions, Loretta and Harold were told she might never walk, talk, or care for herself, and that it wouldn‘t be fair to any future children to raise her themselves. They kept taking her to doctors until they found one that told them what they wanted to hear: Take her home and love her and pray for the best. Sixty-one years later, Sis is still singing, coloring, doing her chores, and happily being the favorite of her five brothers and sisters. Loretta's faith was fully restored.

After Harold's discharge from the Army, the young family moved to Jenkins, Missouri, where their other five children were born in nearby Cassville. When their youngest daughter, Karen, was 10 months old, they moved to Fossil, Oregon for two years, then to Cove, where they raised their family. Although Loretta rarely attended church herself, staying home with Carol June and listening to radio services, she attended Dorcas at Calvary Baptist Church every Thursday where her skilled quilt stitching was highly appreciated, and always contributed to Sunday potlucks at the church, where her homemade dinner rolls and doughnuts were praised even more.

When Harold and Loretta's health failed in 2001, they moved to Beaverton, Oregon to live with their daughter Frances and her husband, Richard Jacklin. Loretta continued to stay busy writing numerous letters, reading her Bible in the morning (to balance out reading true crime all afternoon), and devoting evenings and Sunday afternoons to beating loved ones at Skipbo. Harold died in May of 2005, and Loretta's continued example of courage, humor, and faith in times of personal pain, illness and loss are a true inspiration all who knew and loved her.

Loretta is survived by children and their spouses, Carol June Noble of Beaverton, Oregon, Cecil and Lilas Noble of Huntington, Oregon, Linda and Michael Dow of Hawthorne, Nevada, Patrick and Darra Noble of Aloha, Oregon, Frances and Richard Jacklin of Beaverton, Oregon and Karen Collins of Beaverton, Oregon; ten grandchildren; four great-grandchildren and other relatives and friends. Her parents, husband Harold Noble, sister Norma and brothers, Lonnie and Johnnie all preceded her in death.

Those who wish may make contributions in memory of Loretta Noble to the Washington County Hospice in care of Daniels Chapel of the Valley, 1502 7th Street, La Grande, Oregon 97850.