Obituary of Mary Darlene Hammer

Our Mom, Grandma, and best friend, Mary Darlene Hammer, passed away October 7, 2009 as she arrived in Lakewood to live with us. We knew Mom didn’t have a lot of time left in her fight with lung cancer, we just didn’t realize the battle would be lost so soon. Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer in March and fought with everything she had to beat it. She is missed so much! Mom was born December 19, 1942 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Iola and Hank Kleve. The family left Minnesota, when Mom was young and moved to Oregon. They grew up in Winston and Roseburg. She was preceded in death within a few months by her older brother, Harold Kleve, who has three beautiful daughters, Vicki, Teresa, and Michelle. Mom loved trips to the Oregon coast, where she would walk on the beach and get on a charter boat to go fishing. Her favorite restaurant was the Sea Hag, where she enjoyed clam chowder and fish and chips. We will honor Mom’s wishes by spreading her ashes in the ocean at Depoe Bay in the coming months. Mom also loved to visit casinos. We took vacations to Reno, when we were young. More recently her favorite casino was in Worley, ID. She loved to spend hours playing the penny and nickel slots. Mom loved coats, purses, and cars. She had many of each! She was infamous for getting a new car about every two years. Her daughters have taken after her in serious fashion! On weekends, she wouldn’t wear jewelry. She said she’d take weekends off! When we completed Mom’s 5 Wishes this last week, she wanted everyone to remember that she was hard-headed and ornery, when she wanted to be. We laughed. Her loving spirit touched everyone that she came in contact with. She was definitely a proud WSU Coug Mom. She traveled to Pullman for parent weekends during college and made pilgrimages to our side of the mountains to Husky Stadium for the Apple Cup every other year to fulfill our tradition! We just received our tickets for the game next month and realize we now have an extra ticket. She leaves behind her daughters, Annette Uncangco with husband Rick and Janet Caldwell with husband John, grandchildren Janessa and Jared Caldwell, and Amanda, Sierra, Breanna, and Elena Uncangco. She’ll also be deeply missed by her best friend, Sue Caruso with husband Bill, and Sue’s daughters Lori and Julie, who thought of Mary as their second mom. Sue’s grandaughters’, Cherise (who shared the same birthday), Shanice and Layah, who always called her Gramma Mary and loved her the same as their Gramma. Mom had much extended family she gathered throughout her life. Mom loved children. She loved spending time with her grandkids. They were the light of her life! When John was away on deployments, Grandma was always close at hand to help emotionally and physically. When the parents needed a getaway, Grandma took over and had Gramma time. A memorial to celebrate Mom’s life will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2009, at the Lake City Community Church at 3:00 p.m. Donations to fight lung cancer are welcome at the American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/don/don_0.asp.