Elizabeth Kate ("Katie") Barker, Lifelong Mazama | Sept. 29, 1936–Dec. 17, 2016

by Charles Barker, Mazama Lodge Manager

My mother passed away in mid-December. Loss is difficult, but I have so much to be thankful for. My mother sought to expose my siblings and me to many rich life experiences, and so many of them relate to the Mazamas. Her parents, Gerald and Betty Moore, were part of a close-knit Mazama group that formed lifelong friendships in the 1920s and 30s and enriched my own family’s life. They met on a 1920s Mazama hike around Mount St. Helens.

Katie Moore Barker followed her mother and grandmother in climbing Mt. Hood. She also climbed Mount. St. Helens before and after its eruption. My sister and I have climbed mountains to earn Mazama membership, as have our children.

My mother joined the Mazamas in 1953 and was part of the Oberteuffer Mazama Youth Group throughout her high school years. Mazama Lodge was a second home to hundreds of young adults in those days, and the Oberteuffers were like second parents to hundreds of young Mazamas over the years.

Some veteran members still call our present-day lodge the “New Lodge,” even though it’s 57 years old. When a fundraiser was started to rebuild this lodge in the 1950s, Katie was in her second year of teaching at West Linn High School, and even on her teacher’s salary, she was happy to contribute financially to its construction.

In the late 1970s, she introduced me to Mazama Lodge, and I quickly joined the Mazama Explorer Post that Keith Mischke led. Katie served on the Lodge Committee in the mid-1990s, and during that time, she helped enable a group of foster families to use the lodge. We have shared many wonderful times at the lodge, including Thanksgivings, cookie decorating, folk dancing, and many New Year’s Eve celebrations, as well as using the lodge as home base for countless hikes and cross-country ski trips.

As a final thank you to the Mazamas, Katie bequeathed $13,000 in memory of her late parents, Gerald E. Moore and Elizabeth London Moore, whose love for the Mazamas lives on through the generations.

Loraine Shannon (Jones) Allinger | June 2, 1942–April 17, 2017

Member Loraine Shannon (Jones) Allinger passed away on April 17, 2017. She earned degrees from Portland State University and taught for 13 years at Clarkes School. In the 1970s Loraine was an active climber and backpacker with the Mazamas on trips throughout the Cascades, Rockies, and Olympics, and even enjoyed climbing abroad in the Alps and Canadian Rockies. In 1977, she married John Allinger. They lived in Longview and Hockinson, Washington. Soon after they were married, to her new husband’s surprise, she carried corn-on-the-cob and steaks up to timberline on Mt. Adams to cook on the Primus and Svea stoves. Later on in life she moved on to using walking sticks, but she never gave up her ice axe.

She enjoyed music and natural history and belonged to the Audubon Society and the Vancouver Chrysanthemum Society, as well as the Mazamas. Her charities were Medical Teams International and The Carter Center.

Loraine is survived by her husband; sons, Andy and Ben; sisters, Dary Jones-Eagles, Shelley Hettman, and Josie Evans; and many nieces and nephews.

Susan Marie Hagmeier | February 2, 1952–February 22, 2017

Past Mazama member Susan “Sue” Hagmeier passed away peacefully at home on February 22, 2017. Sue was a lifelong Portlander, born and raised in Southwest Portland. She graduated from Jackson High School in 1970 and attended Reed College from 1970–74. Sue had a passion for the outdoors, and participated in the first women’s course offered by Pacific Crest Outward Bound (now Northwest Outward Bound School). She became a course instructor for Outward Bound, leading wilderness trips and ropes courses. Sue worked as a ski instructor at Mt. Hood Meadows and Timberline Lodge for many years, and was a member of the Mazamas. She also spearheaded countless family camping and hiking trips.

In the 1990s, inspired by her two children, Sue was elected to the Portland Public Schools school board and served two terms, from 1995–2003. Afterwards Sue continued her political dedication, serving as the Multnomah County Democrat’s communications chair for many years, and attending the 2012 Democratic National Convention as an Oregon delegate. Sue also worked in the state legislature, starting in 2009, as Lew Frederick’s campaign chair and chief of staff. Sue believed strongly in the power of government as well as individual action to make people’s lives better. She also found and shared humor in the absurdity and daily grind of modern politics and life. Oregon has lost an irreplaceable advocate for progressive causes.

She leaves behind two daughters, Emily Liedel Omier and Julia Liedel, and granddaughter Sofia Omier.