MARY JOSEPHINE WALKER LACKAFF
August 3, 1940 ˜ December 8, 2022

Mary Jo was born in San Francisco, CA on Aug. 3, 1940, at Letterman General Hospital while her father was stationed at the Presidio. After the outbreak of WWII, she returned with her mother and two older siblings to Vancouver, WA, where they stayed with her maternal grandmother while her dad was overseas. The family continued to live with her grandmother until her father retired from the Army and then her family moved from her grandmother's home taking her grandmother with them.

She attended Providence Academy, graduating from both 8th grade and high school and finished with the class of 1958. After graduation, she entered the Sisters of Providence but left the Noviciate after five months. The following year she enrolled in Clark College, graduating in 1961 and attended the following two years at the University of Portland, graduating with a BA degree in History in 1963. Looking for a job, she followed a tip from an employment counselor and applied at the Clark County Department of Public Assistance where she worked as a caseworker for two and a half years and made many good friends, including Peter J. Lackaff, whom she married in 1965. The marriage ended in 1972.

After a brief period of mourning her failed marriage, she acknowledged her Lesbianism and it was like coming home. For the first time in her life, she felt comfortable in her own skin. She made lifelong friends and several relationships which did not last.

In 1983, she met the woman she would spend the next 32 years getting to know and love more each day. As they hiked, skied, rafted, and swam, she also grew to know and come to love her five children. She chuckled at how intimidated she was when she first met Brigitte, who was her senior by 11 years, had five children, and was a physician. She found, however, that Brigitte was an unassuming, kind, considerate and understanding person.

Mary Jo was a Caseworker with the Children's Services Division (State of Oregon) off and on for 20 years and then transferred to Juvenile Corrections from which she retired in 1998.

After that, she and Brigitte traveled both internationally and within the country. In 2005, they purchased a house in Kelowna, BC, and married the same year. They spend one half of each year there until Brigitte's death in 2015.
Shortly after Brigitte's death, Mary Jo suffered a stroke. With the help and support of family and friends, she made a recovery. But her health was never the same after that.

She renewed some old friendships and attended get togethers of coworkers from her jobs at CSD and OYA and some of her PAV friends. She made new friends as well always attending Friday morning LOCA breakfast gatherings.
She attended St. Andrews Catholic Church off and on since the early 1970s but was a regular attendee starting from 2005 and derived much support from her Parish family.

Survivors include her sister, Jeanette Walker Hymas of Vancouver; nephews, John Hymas, Jim Hymas, John Walker; nieces, Jamie Warren, Theresa Baisler; stepchildren, Ernst (Ernie) Mengelberg, Susanne, Renate, Ulrike (Pike), and George Mengelberg. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lt. Colonel Allen Walker and Josephine Walker (nee Colarco); brother, John Walker; and her dearest spouse, Brigitte.

Funeral mass at St. Andrew's Catholic Church, 8th & Alberta, Portland, OR, at 1 p.m., Monday, Dec. 19th, 2022