Marlene Kavonius

Marlene Mary Kavonius
December 30th 1949 – July 16th 2022 Age 72
Born in Bismark, ND
Father Henry Kavonius and Mother Mary Hoffert Henry and Mary's children from
oldest to youngest. Bill (alive), Leonard, Gerald, James, Barbara (alive), Marlene,
Henry Jr, Richard and Doris (alive)
Marlene moved with her parents to Billings, MT in 1966 and graduated from
Billings Senior High School in the Class of 1967. Shortly after high school in 1968
she moved out to Portland, OR to start her adult life. When she arrived in
Portland, she moved into a small apartment above Sandy Bowl with her father.
She quickly became an avid bowler and this is also where she met her husband
William “Bill” Simpson. Marlene almost became a Pro Bowler but decided she
would love to be a mother and start a family.
Bill and Marlene's children. Lorie Simpson was born August 13th, 1972 and now
has a life partner Chris Miller. Jerry Simpson was born March 22nd, 1974 and now
is married to Michelle Acree. Jerry and Michelle had a son December 8th, 2003
named Andyn Simpson. Andyn was Marlene's only grandchild.
A couple years after Jerry was born the family moved over to Vancouver, WA.
Here in Vancouver, Marlene spent her years working as Customer Service /
Switchboard Operator at Sears and JCPennys. For a while she worked as a
substitute teacher in the Vancouver School District and as a Financial Counselor at
a collection agency. Also, in Marlene's spare time she like sewing, needle work
and crafting things with her hands. Most of all... she loved gardening. She loved
her roses, flowers, fruit trees in her yard and vegetables in her garden. She loved
to sit on her back patio drink her cup of coffee, watch her garden bloom and feed
her hummingbirds.
Marlene cherished every moment she could spend with her grandson Andyn.
She enjoyed teaching him about gardening and how to dig up worms in the
garden. They also loved playing with Thomas the Trains and building Legos. All
would say Marlene lived for her grandson Andyn. Proof... when she was
diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017 all she wanted is to make it to see Andyn
graduate. Well... she did that and surpassed it by a month.
We Love You Mother