Jeanne Cloe

Jeanne Cloe February 1st, 1920 - April 8th, 2019 A grieving family is sad to announce the passing of Jeanne Cloe, age 99, of Newport on April 8th, 2019. A long time local fixture in the art world, Jeanne produced watercolors in abundance and shared her sense of humor and talent with all around her. Jeanne was born February 1st, 1920 on the Umpqua River just east of Reedsport. Her father and grandfather were also born on that river, her great-grandfather being a pioneer settler near Scottsburg. She was one of eleven children. One younger sister, Esther, is now the only one left in that generation. Jeanne graduated from Reedsport High School in 1938, top in her class. In 1939 she met and married Tate (Amos T.) Cloe, a divorced man who worked at the fish plant on the Reedsport waterfront and had a 4 year old son. From the day she met Donnie, she considered that little boy her own. They had two more children, Linda and Joel. When Tate's job at the fish plant was transferred to Newport, they relocated here in 1944 and remained here the rest of their lives. When her children were finally in school, she took a job with the Newport News as the girl reporter and assistant to then-owner Ray Moe. She was lured away to run the office at Tate's fish plant when his bookkeeper retired and stayed at Bumble Bee Seafoods until Tate retired and made her join him in retirement. They loved to join friends playing pinochle and they fished and hunted the rest of their lives until age reduced them to sitting alongside the reservoir with a line in the water. She made the best clam chowder in town, having dug and cleaned the clams herself that morning. Jeanne's passion was her watercolor art and she was the last of a group of people who founded the Yaquina Art Association in the 1950s, buying the small beach changing/rest stop building at the Nye Beach Turnaround to have art classes. After retirement, Tate maintained that facility and went wherever Jeanne went. Her Monday morning watercolor class was her main activity and she considered the other artists there among her dearest friends. She and Tate stuffed water bills at city hall for years as volunteers and Jeanne was named a "Community Legend" in 2010 by the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts. Her paintings hang in homes and offices all over the area. Tate died in 2006 at age 95 and Jeanne carried on her volunteering alone, insisting she would also die at age 95. So her family gave her a big surprise birthday party the day before that 95th birthday (just in case)! Many of her friends, all of her children and grandchildren, surprised her there and Jeanne had a wonderful time. Organized as a "Roast", the tributes were hilarious. Therefore, she insists, there is to be "no memorial service or funeral upon her passing because that party was it"! Besides her sister, Jeanne leaves behind son Don of Las Vegas, daughter Linda Schultz of Alamo, CA, and their respective spouses, Joel's wife Linda of Richland, WA, many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Sadly, her youngest son Joel died in 2018 of cancer. We will get over our grief eventually but we will never stop missing Jeanne. She asks that any memorial donations in her honor be sent to her beloved Yaquina Art Association PO Box 274, Newport, Oregon 97365.

Tributes

Jeanne Cloe

February 1, 1920 - April 8, 2019