This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: marysday Surnames: Lavrakas, Charleville, Hill, Bray, Palm, Douglas, Wood, Mulica, Lochen, Gonzalez, Resnick, Classification: obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.oregon.counties.lincoln/5433/mb.ashx Message Board Post: The News Times, Newport, OR 97365 Posted: Wednesday, Jun 2nd, 2010 Billye Lavrakas Billye Jayne Lavrakas, 85, of Newport, Ore., died May 30, 2010 in Newport. She was born Oct. 25, 1924 to John W. and Genevieve Charleville of Glendale, Calif. She was a graduate of Long Beach Polytechnic High School and attended Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and Vrije Academy in The Hague, The Netherlands. She was raised in Southern California, where her father was city manager for the cities of Glendale, Pasadena and Long Beach. In 1945, she worked at the Douglas Aircraft plant to support the war effort. Later, she encountered a young Navy lieutenant in the elevator in a hotel, who invited her to a ship's commissioning. The war was on, and he returned to fight in the Pacific. In June of that year, he called her from Pearl Harbor to ask her to marry him, and on June 25, they were wed. As a Navy wife and homemaker, she lived in 27 places over 30 years. She was an accomplished artist, expressing herself most often in watercolors. In her 60s and 70s, she painted and sold thousands of miniature watercolors at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach and at the Laguna Sawdust Festival. Throughout her adult years, a first love of Billye's, besides her husband and family, was her church. She was a devoted Christian Scientist, having been healed through Christian Science of a number of illnesses, including the effects of a serious fall and of malaria. She was a member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Mass. and of Christian Science Society in Newport. She served her church as Christian Science Reading Room librarian, on the church executive board, and chair of a committee hosting a regional youth meeting in Southern California. In 2007, she and her husband moved to Newport to be closer to their family members. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Char-lee Lavrakas Hill. She is survived by her husband, Lefteris Lavrakas, of Newport; daughters, Paula Jayne (Richard) Lavrakas Bray, of Ventura, Calif. and Debra Elaine (Douglas) Palm of Beaverton, Calif; son, John William (Melody) Lavrakas of Newport; son-in-law, Russell Hill, of Tustin, Calif.; stepson, Eric Bray of San Clemente, Calif.; stepdaughter, Heather Bray, of Anaheim, Calif.; granddaughters, Miranda Lavrakas (Nick) Wood, of Salem, Emily Palm (Matthew) Mulica, of Golden, Colo., Chelsea Palm of Beaverton, Laura Hill (John) Lochen of Norwood, Mass. and Robyn Hill (Martin) Gonzalez of Tustin, Calif.; grandsons, James Lavrakas of Burbank, Calif., Robert Lavrakas of Newport, Garrett Palm of Brooklyn, N.Y., Steven Resnick of Richmond, Va. and Daniel (Erin) Hill of Victoria, B.C. Canada. Memorial donations may be made to Christian Science Society in Newport. Affordable Burial and Cremation in Newport is handling arrangements. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.