Grace Young Whisnant Robeson

Fort Jones, Calif. — Grace Young Whisnant Robeson passed away in Medford, Ore. on March 9, 2011. Grace was born on Oct. 9, 1922 in Bainville, Mont. She was the youngest of six children born to Boyd and Eunice Whisnant. The family typified the struggles of her generation during the 20s and 30s in America as they coped with the Great Depression. The family moved from one town to another in a horse-drawn wagon in the late 1920s. She received most of her schooling in and lived most of her early years in Clarkston, Wash., then moved to Kelso, Wash., where she graduated from Kelso High School in 1941.
She met Morris Robeson at a dance in Kelso and married him shortly thereafter, on Jan. 1, 1942.

She is survived by her three children, eldest son Gary of Merrill, Ore.; second son Steve and his wife Maggie; daughter Gloria and her husband Ed Mueller of Hillsboro, Ore.; and her sister Esther Clark of Talmadge, Neb. She had six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

She and Morrie lived in Longview, Headquarters and Vancouver, Wash. during WW II and moved to Oakland, Calif. in 1947. Later, they moved to Concord, and in 1955, moved to Livermore, which they called “home.”

In 1978, they retired and moved to Fort Jones onto their dream property. They spent 12 happy years developing their 10-acre retreat into a beautiful place and savoring their 49-year marriage.

Grace was a checker at a drug store in Alameda in the late 1940s and thereafter, a clerk for grocery stores, until she got hired at the University of California Lawrence Radiation Lab in Livermore. She worked there for 19 years, during most of which she was the personal secretary to Ray Kidder, chief of the physics department.

She and Morrie enjoyed camping with their young children, and on any car trip of any length, singing in the car and leading the family in sing-alongs of her mother’s songs. She was an active member of the Livermore Asbury United Methodist Church, and later, the Fort Jones Methodist Church. She and Morrie spent an exciting year in England in 1975-76 and traveled to several countries. They spent their retirement years together taking cruises, traveling and hosting family gatherings, until Morrie’s passing in 1991. She loved gardening, and was a volunteer for Hospice in Yreka for several years.

Her selflessness was exhibited in the 1960s in Livermore, when she organized major fundraisers to pay for the kidney dialysis needed by her good friend Dorris Garbini.

Grace’s life and demeanor truly exemplified her name, as she set high standards for her family and friends. She was a calming influence on those who knew her. She was known to spend long Saturdays with friends, drinking coffee in vast amounts and chatting away for hours. She mastered the art of sleeping on the couch as soon as the TV was turned on. She nurtured the many, many friends that she developed over her long, fruitful life. She will be missed.

No services are planned.