Story Photos
 Lifelong Deep River resident Glenrose Hedlund is pictured at a 2006 tea held in her honor at Rosburg Community Hall. Photo courtesy of Elaine Wilbanks
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Sunday Obituary: Mrs. Hedlund spent life making friends on the Lower Columbia
Sunday, October 12, 2008 5:19 AM PDT
By Leila Summers
Printable version
E-mail this articleGlenrose Hedlund loved to dress up for any occasion.
For a tea party, she once transformed a papier-mache flower vase into a teapot-shaped hat. For Halloween, she once glued dozens of bags to her clothes to be a "bag lady."
But it was her smiling face and gift for conversation that truly made Hedlund stand out at the countless events she attended in Cathlamet, Skamokawa,Naselle and Astoria.
"She was a great community supporter," said close friend Mary Steller of Rosburg.
Hedlund, a former Wahkiakum County Citizen of the Year, passed away Sept. 30. She was 87.
Collecting antiques was a favorite hobby of Hedlund's. Organizers of the Finnish-American Folk Festival in Naselle even designated a special room just for Hedlund's collection at this year's event, said daughter Elaine Wilbanks, a Kelso resident.
While Hedlund was growing up in the Deep River area, she and her parents sought out old home sites and dug up their dumping grounds,Wilbanks said. Hours of work turned up old bottles and knickknacks, which Hedlund collected.
A cast-iron cook stove was a favorite find of hers, Wilbanks said.
Hedlund was the third generation of her family to live around the lower Columbia River. Her grandfather built a cedar house entirely without nails, and it's preserved as a historical site along U.S. 101 south of Astoria at Cullaby Lake. The house was transported there from its original spot deep in the Oregon hills, Steller said.
For many summers, Hedlund visited the house on the weekends when it was opened to tourists. She would bake cookies and enjoyed chatting with visitors, Steller said.
Hedlund was born in her parent's Deep River home in 1920 and graduated from Naselle High School in 1939. She married Clarence Hedlund, a former janitor and school bus driver for local schools, in 1940. They were married 56 years before Clarence passed away.
Although she stuck to the Lower Columbia River, she had an adventurous spirit, her friend said.
"She was always open to every new experience," Steller said. On the phone, Steller would often ask her friend "Are you open for a new experience today? And she would almost always say yes."
Hedlund was small — only about 5 feet, 1 inch tall — but her spirit was mighty, Steller said.
"I called her my bodyguard," Steller said. Her friend was always willing to accompany friends and give rides to elderly citizens, Steller added.
Hedlund remained an active woman until the end, Wilbanks said. Even after she cut back on her appearances, she insisted on baking cookies for her favorite events and causes, she said.
Hedlund was a member of the Wahkiakum County Historical Society, the Gray's River Grange and Finnish American Historical Society of the West.
"I told her in the past 10 to 15 years, I wish I had half the energy as her," Wilbanks said.
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