Merriel Jeannette Bradley passed away suddenly and quietly at her home in Springfield, Oregon, on Dec. 19, 2019.
Jeanne was born on June 17, 1933 in Roseburg, Oregon, to Harold “Dutch” and Marie Francis Miller.
Jeanne descended from pioneer Oregon stock including the Witham, Fleming, Miller and Nicholson families. She took great pride in being part of five living generations of firstborn Oregon women, which the family has enjoyed for four generations. Jeanne had just learned she was going to become a great-great grandmother in the coming year.
She had two brothers, Harold “Bud” Miller and Larry Miller, who preceded her in death. Her father, Dutch, was killed in a logging accident in the Wolf Creek area in the early 1940s. Jeanne gained a sister, Jacquie Nicholson after her mother remarried, to Harold “Jack” Nicholson, and moved to the Creswell area.
Jeanne raised a daughter, Deborah Cuddeback, with her first husband, and later four sons with Carl A. Ehrich Jr. in Creswell: Donald, David, Dwane and Dale. Jeanne was preceded in death by her second son, David.
She spent over 30 years in the Eugene-Springfield area while married to Robert “Dale” Bradley. They traveled extensively in North America and overseas in New Zealand. They worked in Death Valley for eight years after retirement and helped organize a group of seasonal employees that continued to hold reunion gatherings for many years. He passed away several years ago.
In her early years in Creswell, Jeanne was active in the community through membership in the Beta Chi organization, the PTA, service as a Cub Scout leader, and she even contributed news items to The Chronicle for several years. She was recognized as Creswell’s Woman of the Year in 1963.
During the ’60s, the Ehrich kids enjoyed camping and traveling, often with a couple of other school-age friends invited along, throughout the United States and most of Oregon.
Jeanne was an avid, practically obsessive reader throughout her life and encouraged others to do the same. She loved music, dancing, driving and train travel, including a strong interest in the Harvey House historical stations.
Jeanne was a fiercely independent woman and imparted to her children that perspective of being strong and self-sufficient. In the late ’60s, Jeanne was one of Oregon’s very first new car saleswomen and worked for Dunham Oldsmobile in Eugene.
In later years, Jeanne helped to form and lead a local book club and organized a “Lunch Bunch” that ate monthly at 113 different locations to date in the area. She had planned, funded and directed their most recent lunch, a holiday event at Pine Crest Golf Course, just days before passing.
Jeanne enjoyed dining out and had a weekly circuit that included her favorite locations, largely because of the great service and the friendships she developed there. Café 440, The Outback, and PrimeTime restaurants were tops on her list.
She was known as a great friend to many, despite her quick wit and unbridled enthusiasm for sharing her personal opinions on a wide variety of subjects.
Jeanne passed on her own terms: dressed up to go out with her car keys in hand.
No services are planned, at her request. The family will conduct a celebration of life in the spring at a location to be determined.
