Sharlene Kay Crabtree passed away March 6.

A beautiful mom, granny, gma, maga, sister, aunt, and friend left us after a difficult journey with Parkinson’s Disease. Our hearts are hurting, but we know she is free.

Sharlene was born March 12, 1941, in rural Kansas and moved with her family to Salem when she was in her teens. She graduated from North Salem High School and married shortly after graduation. The relationship ended, and she took an office job and worked full time while raising her two young daughters. She was a hard worker and instilled a strong work ethic in all of us.

She met the love of her life while working for a restaurant in Albany, and married Huey “Doug” Crabtree in 1967. Doug drug her along on outdoor adventures that she came to love. They had great fun fishing, camping, and playing with family and friends. Doug and Sharlene moved to Bend in 1979 when Doug opened his own welding shop. They loved and laughed together for 32 years until Doug passed away in 1999.

Sharlene started work in the accounting department at Western Communications in 1981 and grew with the company to become the director of Human Resources until her retirement in 2011. Her career was very important to her, and she was proud of the role she held. She cared deeply about the people who she worked with throughout the organization.

Sharlene loved to spend time with friends and family. She had a dry sense of humor and loved a good joke. She enjoyed going to craft classes with her sister, finding a great garage sale or bargain, spending time with her grandkids, shopping in Portland with her girls, planting flowers, trips to the beach, reading romance novels, making desserts, and sipping a glass of wine. She hated losing at bunco, but always had a great time planning the party and spending time with her friends.

Mom was the anchor of our family, taking care of and supporting everyone. She took great pride in sharing stories and pictures of her daughters and grandkids. She always knew the best way to spoil us and was our biggest fan and cheerleader. She was smart, funny, kind, thoughtful, and loving. We miss her greatly and know she will always be with us.

She is survived by her daughters, Kim (AJ) Johnson and Connie (Bob) Looney; grandchildren, Meagan Looney (Holden), Kendal (Kim) Johnson, and Sarah Looney; sister, LaDonna (Nick) Daviscourt; brother, Vishwananda Ron Eisele; and her nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Doug; and parents, Richard and Glenna Eisele.

Friends are invited to a celebration of life for Sharlene on Sunday, March 31,  from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Riverhouse (Deschutes Room).

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Partners in Care Hospice (www.partnersbend.org) or the Humane Society of Central Oregon (www.hsco.org).