Darlene Kerr

Memorial services for Darlene Kerr will be held Monday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m., at Oak Harbor Lutheran Church with Pastor Jerry Buss officiating. Cremation was held with private family burial to follow at Hawthorne Lawn Memorial Park, Mount Vernon.

Darlene Kerr died at her home in Oak Harbor Feb. 11, 2004, at the age of 64 after a five-year battle with lymphoma, surrounded by a house full of loving family and friends. She was born in Sedro-Woolley on Jan. 23, 1940, to Allen Browning and Elizabeth LaVera (Smith) Hanson.

Darlene attended Sedro-Woolley High School and was active in cheerleading and also served as Worthy Advisor of Rainbow. Darlene graduated with the class of 1958 and attended Skagit Valley College for a time. She then transferred to Central Washington State College in Ellensburg.

Darlene met Jack Kerr, a student from Mount Vernon, at Central Washington University. Darlene and Jack were married in Sedro-Woolley Aug. 24, 1963. She attended beauty college in Mount Vernon and received her cosmetologist license.

Darlene and Jack moved to Oak Harbor in 1965. Darlene went to work as a cosmetician at Silver Scissors in Oak Harbor and then opened her own shop with her partner, Margie Ervin. Darlene eventually opened her own shop, Accent on Style.

Darlene was the past president of the Skagit-Island Cosmetologist group; The Look Good-Feel Good club; the Teachers Birthday Club, and was a long-time advisor to the Voc-Tech advisory committee at Oak Harbor High School.

Darlene enjoyed nature walks at home, clam digging, gardening and flowers, entertaining, travel, camping, cooking and hosting the Mt. Vernon and Sedro-Woolley Class of 1958 reunions on her property. She enjoyed decorating her home for all the holidays and especially for Christmas and Halloween. She loved life, her husband Jack and her sons, Bill and Bob. She was a class act person who offered absolute, unconditional love.

Darlene is survived by her husband Jack at the family home, Oak Harbor; by two sons, William “St. Croix” Kerr, II his wife Catherine and their children, Krystal Kerr, Jasmine Kerr and Jaimie Mouser, of Mount Vernon; and Robert “Bob” Kerr and Cadence Clyborne of Edmonds; and her mother, Elizabeth Joyner of Sedro-Woolley. One sister, Claudean Davis, of Oak Harbor and brother Fabyn and Pat Hanson of Pleasant Hills, Calif., and her nieces and nephews, Cheryl and Alan Perkes of Mount Vernon, Carol Reid of Burlington and Brett Hanson of Bow, also survive. In addition, she leaves a special group of friends, including Alice Ann Maxfield and family, Leonard and Gail Carlson and the entire Carlson family, Bob and Joan Green, and the Class of 1958 of Sedro-Woolley and Mount Vernon. Her father, Allen Browning Hanson and her mother-in-law and father-in-law, William “Bill” and Martha “Dotty” Kerr, preceded her in death.

The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the “Sounds of Grace” for a fantastic evening of music and love.

The family would like to recognize the excellent care provided by the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Skagit-Island Hospice and caregiver, Poppy Verd, R.N.

Memorials may be made to Skagit-Island Hospice, 1971 Highway 20, Sedro-Woolley, or the Sedro-Woolley Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 509, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284. Arrangements are under the direction of Burley Funeral Chapel, Oak Harbor, Washington. This obituary is on-line at http://burley.plan4ever.com.