Sarah Elizabeth Dawe

Sarah Elizabeth “Sally” Dawe died Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019, at Sapphire at Gateway Care & Retirement Center in Portland, Ore., after years of declining health. She was 88.

Sally was born to Percy Isaac and Mary Ruth Clement Dawe in Portland on August 30, 1931. She grew up in Portland, attending Wilkes Grade School, graduating from Washington High School, and obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Lewis & Clark College and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Oregon in Eugene.

She married Russell Eugene White in 1952, and they had five children. They were divorced. She married John Levering Palmer in 1971. They were divorced. She married Leslie Belrose in 1982. They were divorced.

Sally was a musician who played the violin with the Portland Symphony Orchestra. She also played for summer operas at Washington Park; for ballets and choral performances; and in many other venues. She worked part time as a strolling musician at the Hilton Hotel’s International Club, where she also sometimes sang. She loved her family, her children, music, singing, sewing, camping, hiking and entertaining. After her first marriage, she was tumor registrar at the University of Oregon Medical School in Portland for several years. She later worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Stockton, Calif., playing in the Stockton Symphony. After retirement, she briefly resided with a daughter in Whitewater, Colo., and played violin in the Grand Junction Symphony in Grand Junction, Colo.

Sally is survived by her five children, Carol A. Hawkins (Robert) of Apache Junction, Ariz.; Catherine J. Hicks of Walla Walla, Wash.; Nancy J. Luce (Michael) of Portland; Sally E. Crino of Davenport, Iowa; and Russell S. White (Karen) of Tucson; eleven grandchildren, several step-grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews. A memorial service is planned for late spring.  Omega Funeral & Cremation is handling arrangements.

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