Mary Jean (Ehret) Baumhofer: 1931-2020

Mary Jean (Ehret) Baumhofer, 88, of Lake Oswego, Ore., passed away July 12, 2020, at Oswego Place Assisted Living with her daughters at her bedside.

She was born to the late Arthur and Mildred Ehret Oct. 22, 1931, in Centralia, Wash. Mary Jean attended Centralia Junior College and graduated with honors from Washington State University in 1953.

Mary Jean began working as a Home Economics teacher in Shelton, Wash., and was eventually certified as a media specialist, working as an elementary school librarian in the Reynolds School District in Portland, Ore. Mary Jane was instrumental in switching all of the library resources from the card catalog to digital.

She will be remembered for her love of family (and photos of them), reading, music (playing the organ and piano), knitting and her organizational skills. Mary Jane compiled databases of her prolific sheet music collection, 45s, 78s, CDs and books as well as kept track of her daily walking steps.

She knit over 75 Christmas stockings for family and friends, each personalized with their name. Mary Jane also knit prayer shawls and baby hats for charities.

She is survived by her children, Laura (Mark) Worden of Corvallis, Janet (Gary) Buskuhl of Tualatin and William ‘Scott’ Baumhofer of Portland; and three grandchildren, Daniel, Nathan and Joshua.

Mary Jane was preceded in death by her brother, William ‘Bill’ Ehret of Centralia, Wash.

She shared a special bond with her daughter, Janet and older brother, Bill, who had the same birthday.

To honor Mary Jean’s love of books and her many hours of volunteering at the library, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Garden Home Community Library, https://www.gardenhomelibrary.org/contribute.