Obituary
Alice Schilperoort passed peacefully in her own bed to her heavenly home on November 2, 2020 at 3:45 p.m. twelve days after reaching her goal of 105 years. She was born on October 21, 1915, the seventh of nine children born to Ralph and Cornelia “Kay” Bos on October 21, 1915, in Zillah, Washington. She was preceded in death by her six brothers and two sisters. Of the 56 first cousins in that Bos generation, only five remain. Mom had fond memories of living at home with her parents until age 26 and taking an active role in caring for her many nephews and nieces, all of whom she remained close to throughout her life.
She was engaged to Lawrence Schilperoort for a few years early in his Naval career. It was February 1942, two months after Pearl Harbor, when Dad called his Aunt Hannah, who was married to Mom’s Uncle Jake, and who had the only phone close to Mom’s home. He asked Aunt Hannah to drive over to tell Alice to be at their phone the next day, at the same time, for his call. Dutifully, Mom was there at the appointed time. He told her his ship (USS Mississippi) was en route to San Francisco and would she come down and “bring the ring!”
When Alice was making the rounds telling family goodbye, she realized she should go tell Ma and Pa Schilperoort of her plans. When Pa heard the news he said, “I’m going with you”. They caught the bus out of Sunnyside that afternoon and was Lawrence amazed to see his father when they pulled into the station late the following day. After securing the license, they had to wait three days to marry and spent the time seeing the sights in beautiful California weather. The morning of the courthouse wedding Pa decided the weather was so nice he had to make tracks back to the farm and promptly boarded a bus home – back to frozen ground!
While Dad was at sea during the war years, Mom busied herself with volunteering as a Candy Striper at a local hospital and enjoyed the company of other Navy wives, many of whom remained life-long friends. She recalls walking to the middle of the Golden Gate bridge with some of the other women to watch the ship sail in or out.
In February of 1946, after the war was over, Lawrence let Alice know his ship (the ammunition ship USS Alamosa) had left the Philippines headed for Bremerton and would she join him there. She took the train to stay with relatives, but soon learned the ship had been forced to drop anchor in Discovery Bay and not proceed due to a heavy typhoon it had encountered crossing the Pacific and causing the enlisted men on board to remove their bunk mattresses and use them as wedges between the 16-inch ammunition rolling in the hold of the ship.
Mom does not remember how she got to Port Townsend, but Dad was the Executive Officer on board and managed to smuggle her aboard. Two weeks later she was back on shore and on the train down to San Francisco. When the Alamosa pulled into port, Mom was four months pregnant!
A daughter, Cornelia “Connie”, a true Baby Boomer, was born later that year. Two years later, on the birth of their second child, David, they bought a house in Alameda near the church and naval base. Dennis followed 12 months later, Ralph 13 months after that, and Roger in 22 months making five children in six years. Glen, the fifth son, was not born until five months after Dad retired in 1956 and sadly died in a car accident in 1972.
The biggest highlight of our Navy days was sailing on the USS Randall (a troop transport) from Seattle through the Panama Canal to Staten Island in 1954. Dad was a Lieutenant and officers’ families were permitted to go with the ship’s transfer to the East Coast. He was transferred back to the West Coast four months later. We travelled cross-country in the ’47 Chevrolet that had gone with us in the hold of the ship, timing the arrival to coincide with the annual Schilperoort Reunion in Sunnyside, and then on to our home in Alameda in time for start of the school year.
Our family moved to Gresham in 1961, after meeting all the criteria: Open space away from city life, military base for retirement privileges, close to “home” meaning Sunnyside the cradle of both families and, of course, a Christian Reformed Church, which had just been formed in Portland the year before.
They bought an Iconic Tudor-style house big enough for the family, with ten acres of cane berries. They sold the ten acres in 1972 but saved enough ground for a half-acre of grapes and a garden. Dad passed in 1998, and Mom continued to live on in the house for a total of 52 years. She always said she was strong and healthy from taking the stairs up to all four bedrooms, doing laundry in the basement and hanging most of the wash outside.
Besides farm and yard work in general, she stopped pruning the half-acre of grapes and bowling on a league at age 95. She and Dad took many road trips over the years, always by car and stopping to see friends and family scattered across the United States. The only states she had not been in were Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont so she and Connie flew to Maine to see friends, stay in B&Bs to tour those states and also stay with her cousins in Ontario, Canada. Mom went with Connie on a work-related trip to Hawaii, so she has been in every state but Alaska.
The year Dad passed, Mom and Connie joined his youngest sister on a two-week Witte coach tour through five European countries and spent an extra week visiting Dad’s relatives in The Netherlands. The two of them took a train to visit Mom’s Bos cousins in Groningen who were able to show them where her parents were married and where her grandfather was buried. After his fatal accident, her grandmother immigrated with her younger children to join the older ones already living in the Yakima Valley. Unfortunately, she only lived a few months, is buried in Zillah, and is said to have died from a broken heart.
Mom’s hands were never idle. She sewed many dozens of quilts and baby blankets. Crocheted two bedspreads, and many tablecloths, doilies of all shapes and sizes, at least one afghan for every family member plus some extended family and friends, and spelled out the family name, or a new married name, for framing. Her sewing machine was used for mending anything and everything for the entire family; overalls (what she called jeans) saying 3-corner tears were the worst, shirt pockets, buttons missing, backpack straps, etc. Every single garment or item always had a love note tucked in for the wearer to find. There was always a Dutch-patterned tin of her homemade “Keebler Bars” waiting in the refrigerator for grandkids to help themselves. Whenever family stopped by, Mom made a point of waving goodbye through the dining room window blinds and then running to the front porch to wave or blink the light for a final farewell. She continued that practice from her apartment patio door window.
At the age of 97 Mom moved to an independent living apartment in the Gresham Manor. There she made many new friends in a revolving fashion because she outlived their reasons for having to leave their apartments. She was a star at Beanbag Baseball and always “ran around the bases” when she scored a home run. She loved playing Scrabble with friends for years and continued with anyone who would play with her, but always one-on-one so a third person could not mess up her next move.
Church was a big focus of our lives growing up; Sunday school, Catechism, two services on Sunday and friendships. Dad served on Consistory and Mom served on communion and coffee hour committees, and taught Sunday School. Flowers from Dad’s bountiful garden supplied the altar many weeks, especially when the prize Japanese Imperial Iris were blooming in July. Whenever there was a couple visiting or a new family in church they were invited home for dinner, and when the church formed a CRC Bed & Breakfast service, she signed up the ample house to welcome travelers from all over the country, many of whom became new friends. Our church was definitely an extension of our family.
Mom gave up going to church when her eyesight and hearing failed but listened to her favorite TV “preachers” on Sunday mornings and attended the Sunday afternoon service provided at the Manor. Her abiding Faith in her God and Savior and her love of family was always a beacon in her life, and it is what gave her the courage to face each day.
She is survived by daughter Connie Kobes (Gary) sons David “Skip” (Betty), Dennis (Tricia), Ralph, Roger (Kathy) Eight Grandchildren: Kelly, Rodney, Brian, Glenn, Loren, Rosalyn, Cary, and Bonnie.
Eleven Great Grandchildren and one Great-great Grandson born this year. Several step-great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
May her strong faith, boundless love and indomitable spirit live on in everyone who knew her.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations can be made to Parkland Christian Reformed Church
16001 SE Main Street, Portland, OR 97233