Joseph "Je" Edward O'Meara Obituary (1927

You can still see the green two-story house north of East Baseline, west of 185th street where Joe O'Meara was born on June 19, 1927. Or June 20—when you were born at home back then you may not have had the current almanac on the kitchen shelf. He finally found out for sure when the war ended and the army put the correct date on his discharge papers. When Joe actually stayed at school he attended Reedville Elementary, then Hillsboro High for 3 years, and University of Portland for 3 years. To help with the war effort he joined the Merchant Marine, then West Point. Then the war ended. Joe met Vera when he was picking up his sister, Eileen from nursing school. By then he was making moonshine in the hills north of Hillsboro, mostly for the challenge. That ended when he asked Vera to marry him, and she wanted no part of it—the moonshine. Married in 1950, they had 7 children and a happy life until a heart attack took Vera in 1998. Not one to settle with just one career Joe logged with his brother in law Kenny Hall, sold real estate with Byron Davis, worked at Tektronix, and built Twin Oaks Dairy on River Road south of Hillsboro. When their sixth child, Michelle, was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor at the age of five Joe and Vera went to every extreme to save her life. They were devasted by her death in 1967. Joe spent the next years salmon fishing with Pat and Kevin and shrimping off the Oregon coast. He then retired and bought Charlie and Agnes Vandehey's farm in Verboort, Vera's family home place. While helping Kevin and Deirdre look for a house in Hillsboro Joe visited a property on 334th Avenue he had visited 30 years previously. This time the elderly couple was ready to sell, and the land eventually became Killarney West Golf Course. Joe lived at the golf course for 44 years, outliving two more wives and playing nearly half a million games of solitaire—a testament to his patience. Joe was preceded in death by His wife of 48 years, Vera, daughter Michelle, brother Dan, brother and sister in laws Gene & Sylvia Vandehey, Ellis & Marie Vandehey, LaRue & Marlene Jubelt, Loraine Volz, and Ken Hall. Joe is survived by six children and their spouses: Pat and Vickie O'Meara of Estacada, John and Jane Reding of Hillsboro, Kevin and Deirdre O'Meara of Madras, Jim and Colleen Vuylsteke of Cornelius, Bill and Kay O'Meara of Scappoose and Tim and Katie Tarpley of Dallas, sister Eileen Hall, brother and sister-in-law Bob and Mary Jo Vandehey, 19 grandchildren, 44 great grandchildren, and devoted dog, Chichi.