Carmen Maebelle White, 96, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, passed away June 4, 2020. She was born May 20, 1924, in the Cooley Century home in Cottage Grove to parents Virgil D. and Maebelle O. (Seybold) White.
Carmen weighed 2½ pounds at birth. Her grandma White attended her birth and kept her warm using the oven in the kitchen. She was taken such good care of that she gained weight and was soon able to be taken out visiting. Carmen graduated from Cottage Grove High School in 1942. She did attend some college.
Carmen moved to San Francisco, Calif., where she worked as a file clerk in a government office for Maj. Harold Gerber in 1943. Carmen would wake up every day at 5 a.m. to take a train to the city, then a bus to Fort Mason. She then took a room with the Major and his wife to help with their three little boys.
Carmen enjoyed playing the piano, knitting, and quilting with her mother and friends. She was a lifelong member of the Eastern Star of the Masonic Temple, and was a member of the First Baptist Church in Cottage Grove. She is preceded in death by her parents. Carmen is survived by several cousins.
A private inurnment will be held at Shields Cemetery in Cottage Grove. Arrangements in the care of Smith-Lund-Mills Funeral Chapel in Cottage Grove.
