Mary "Mary Jo" Joanne Uecker Obituary (1925

Mary Joanne (Mary Jo) Hall Uecker passed away peacefully Friday Morning, December 11, 2015. Born to Benjamin and Mary Belle (Glazer) Hall on October 1, 1925, on a farm near the small Willamette Valley community of St Louis, OR, she attended St Louis Grade School and Gervais High School. After graduation, she worked in Salem as an Usherette at the Elsinore Theater and as a secretary at the state highway department and telephone company. As a young woman, Mary Jo enjoyed voice lessons, traveling to San Francisco with friends, and volunteering at the Camp Adair U.S.O. during World War II. Upon joining Salem's Englewood Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) Church Choir, she met Lloyd Uecker, the congregation's young pastor. They were married in 1952 and had two sons, Jeffry in 1956 and Joel in 1961. In 1961 she joined Lloyd in Japan, after which they traveled throughout East and South Asia and the Mediterranean for a number of weeks. In 1963, the family moved to Portland, where Lloyd served the Tabor Heights EUB (later United Methodist)Church. Highlights during this time included stays in Great Britain and India. They moved to Medford in 1978 and forest Grove in 1981. As a minister's spouse, May Jo had ample opportunities to pursue her loves of singing, hosting events and volunteering at church and her boys school activities. After Lloyd's retirement in 1986, her community service and travel continued. She enjoyed reading with youth students in the SMART program and many years of volunteering at Forest Grove Valley Art Association where she often exhibited her china painting. She visited England one last time in 2005 when Jeff's wife Cindy accompanied her for her 80th birthday. After Lloyd's death in 2012, she moved into assisted living in Hillsboro, where she was very content. Mary Jo Hall Uecker was fiercely proud of her Oregon pioneer roots and is survived by her sons and daughter-in-law; granddaughters; Maren of Brooklyn, NY, Heidi of Lake Oswego; numerous cousins and her beloved kitty; Jenny. A celebration of her life will be held at the Tualatin Plains Presbyterian church near Hillsboro on Sunday, January 10 at 2:00 p.m.. Interment will occur later at Belle Passi Cemetery in Woodburn. The family suggest memorials be given to the Valley Art Association, Bonnie Hays Animal Shelter or to a charity of one's choosing.