Barbara Jean (Heyerly) Hooley, longtime resident of Creswell, Oregon, died on Thursday, October 22, 2020 at the age of 88, while in Riverbend Hospital, in Springfield, Oregon.
Barbara was born to Edward and Anna Heyerly, at their farm in Albany, Oregon, on May 26, 1932. She graduated from Albany High School. While attending school, she enjoyed softball and playing the saxophone and piano. Barbara grew up attending and taking part in youth activities at Grace Mennonite Church, in Albany.
On July 22, 1951, Barbara married Eldon Ray Hooley, of Hubbard, Ore. They lived in Albany for the first few years, where their first two children, Mike and Sally, were born. They then moved to the Salem, Ore. area. They spent time living in town, and on a chicken ranch outside of Salem. It was in Salem that Barbara gave birth to her third child, Doug.
Barbara’s father Ed had started a poultry processing company, Willamette Poultry (AKA Fircrest Foods), in Creswell, Ore. In 1962 Barbara and Ray moved their family to Creswell, where Ray worked at the “chicken plant,” and Barbara worked as a homemaker. She did a lot of canning and gardening during those days. In the late 1960’s she worked as a clerk in Creswell City Hall.
Ray eventually became the President and CEO of Fircrest. Supporting Fircrest was a major part of Barbara’s life for over twenty-five years. She spent many of those years working in the office there as a bookkeeper. Throughout most of the “Fircrest years,” she was an active member of North Park Community Church, a Mennonite Brethren Fellowship, in Eugene, Oregon.
Barbara and Ray retired from the Poultry processing business in 1987. With her children all raised, as Ray continued to work as a consultant and design engineer in the poultry industry around the world, Barbara transitioned back into being an “empty nester” homemaker. Following Ray’s work found Barbara living in Kansas City, MO, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The couple retired and spent several years living in Sun City, in Phoenix, Arizona. They eventually moved to the Mennonite retirement village in Canby, Ore. It is there Ray died March 29, 2012. Barbara spent a year there and then moved to Eugene to be closer to family.
Barbara loved entertaining, sewing and keeping up with her family. She faithfully attended her grandchildren’s sporting and other events whenever distance allowed. In her retirement years she took to collecting Beanie Babies. Barbara loved to travel. She saw most of the United States, and travelled to Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Israel, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. She loved spending time in Hawaii.
Barbara is survived by her three children: son, Mike Hooley, his wife Marilyn of Eugene, her daughter Sally Hooley of Eugene, her son, Doug Hooley and his wife Angela of Dexter, Oregon, her brother Ron Heyerly and his wife Nancy, and her five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Barbara was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Ray Hooley, her sisters Glorine Staley and Charlotte Sweeten, her brother Don Heyerly, and grandson Robby Hunt.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barbara’s memorial is limited to being online. The memorial website is located at “Forevermissed.com.” The immediate family will hold a graveside service at Zion Mennonite Church in Canby, Oregon.
