Grace Isabelle Roub

Grace Isabelle Roub, was born Grace Tannock April 28, 1899, on Dixie mountain in Washington County, Oregon. She died November 18, 2003 in Portland. Growing up she walked six miles through tall timber to school. She left school after sixth grade to help out on the family farm. She remembered when Canyon Road was a dirt and plank road and Beaverton was a swampy area.

Her significant achievement was raising her four children on the farm during the Depression when the father of the children, her husband, abandoned his family. This meant milking the herd of Jersey cows, separating the milk, selling the cream, tilling the fields with a team of horses and all the endless chores. Each year she canned 1500 quarts of fruit, vegetables and meat. There was no electricity or running water. There was a hand pump on the covered porch. She baked two large batches of bread each week.

Grace was an endless giver of herself to her family. She was always available to neighbors for baby-sitting, paid or not. She was a member of the Pythian Sisters from age 18 on for life. She belonged to several quilting groups and has left many beautiful quilts; three of them are my prized possessions. One of these quilts has the wool from Bo Peep, her pet sheep, as the filler.

The biggest adversity she had to overcome was losing her beloved Jersey herd to Bang’s disease in the early 1940s. The law required they all be destroyed. Not only were they her livelihood, she loved them, one and all, and they were her pride and joy.

Even though she was unable to attend church during parts of her life, if you knew her, you knew she had a strong faith and that she loved God. When she couldn't get to church on Sunday and she had access to a radio, she would listen to services all day long.

Faith to her, I believe, meant caring, sharing, giving and making whatever effort was needed. Going to lodge meetings at the Pythian Sisters, going to Bible study, and going to church on Sunday whenever she had a ride (she never learned to drive) seemed to be very natural parts of her life. As far back as I can recall, she had always stated she had no fear of death. Without faith, I don't think she could have endured the challenges of her lifetime.

Nature was very spiritual for her. She loved the outdoors, all animals, birds, honeybees and bumble bees, everything. She would take in a stray cat and have them spayed or neutered, feed them and they would either become part of her family or she would find a loving home for them. Her biggest regret when her hearing diminished was not being able to hear songbirds. She shared her love of the outdoors and all animals with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Grace was extremely good with horses and spent much of her time loving and caring for them. Her maternal grandfather, who emigrated from Germany, came across the Plains in a covered wagon train and fought in the Indian Wars. He raised thoroughbred Percheron draft horses and she grew up riding them bareback. Her own children had to master bareback riding before they were allowed to ride with saddles to eliminate the possibility of being dragged. She rode her registered Standardbred mare, Mary J. Cinkofield, for many years and was still riding well into her 80s.

There is no doubt that my mom was extraordinary, raising four children on the farm, keeping them well-fed and warm, and with the help of hand-me-down clothes, comfortably and presentably dressed.