Therese (Terry) Lyons 1925 - 2025

Therese (Terry) Agnes Lyons was born October 10, 1925, to Harry and Helen Hefter in Jamaica, Long Island, New York, and passed away January 20, 2025, in Milwaukie, Oregon. She was one of nine siblings raised in Queens, New York.

She joined the war effort at age 18, when she was recruited as a telephone operator and traveled cross country via a “troop train” to her new assignment in San Francisco. She eventually transferred to Seattle and, at the end of WWII, married Joe Welch from Friday Harbor, Washington. After five years of marriage and two children, she divorced. By that time, her home was in McMinnville, Oregon, where she eventually married Edwin Lyons of Yamhill. He brought two sons to the marriage, and together they had six more children.

From 1950 to 1988, Terry lived in McMinnville, where she raised her family of 10 children, all of whom graduated from McMinnville High School. When not attending to family needs, she enjoyed activities, including square dancing, sewing, driving, traveling throughout the U.S., and many local social and outdoor activities. She was an active member of St. James Catholic Church. For a time, Terry was a successful “Avon Lady,” and eventually rejoined GTE Northwest for her career, retiring in 1990.

Following her former husband’s death, she moved to King City, where she thrived until 2017. There, she enjoyed swimming, volunteering at the library and the local Red Cross, served as a board member of her condo association, established a Red Hat Society Chapter, and enjoyed the company of many friends and family. She was a member of St. Francis Catholic Church in Sherwood. For 30 years, she kept a trailer campsite at Taylor Park on the Little North Santiam River. Terry shared her joy of the outdoors with her family, who often joined her at her getaway.

In 2017, Terry moved to a retirement community in Milwaukie, Oregon.

She is survived by her children, Joey (Diane) Welch of Spring Branch, Texas, Patty (Frank) Wampler of Oregon City, Oregon, Linda (Don) Davis of Beavercreek, Oregon, Jeanne Glover of Eagle Point, Oregon, Donna (Mark) McMurtry of McMinnville, Margurite Lyons of Ontario, Oregon, Greg (Margo) Lyons of Oregon City, and Paula (Steve) Bond of McMinnville; her two step-sons, Steve Lyons of Boerne, Texas, and Gary (Kris) Lyons of West Linn, Oregon; 17 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; a younger sister, Joan Hefter of California; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will celebrate her long life privately, at an outdoor gathering, when the weather is warmer — just how Terry most enjoyed the outdoors.