Ethel Mary Gattis' Obituary
A family graveside service will be held, 10:00 AM, Saturday, July 9th at Columbia Memorial Gardens. Mrs. Gattis passed away, July 4th in Scappoose. She was 90 years old.
Ethel Mary Gattis was born February 6, 1921 in Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa to Charles William and Rosalie Nellie Brooks Bestall, the middle of three children. When she became a teenager she went to live in England, where she and her parents remained for three and a half years. It was in high school there that she received really good art instruction. With the threat of World War II, she returned to South Africa.
While working in Rhodesia as a production secretary she met and married Arthur Holliger. Soon after they came to the United States and settled in Santa Paula, California. It is there she became a U.S. citizen. They had four children and later divorced.
Years after she married Raymond Roy Gattis. Art was always one of her greatest interests, being a mother of six children didn't leave much time to pursue her artistic endeavors.
After living in California for a number of years, they moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas after her husband's retirement, where he later passed away. It was there she joined the Traditional Art Guild. Her other hobbies included sewing, knitting, crocheting, ceramics, leather work, and gardening.
She moved to Scappoose to be closer to her family.
Ethel is survived by her children; Gordon Holliger of Lake Port, California, Carol Patterson, Marion Klecker, and Kerry Holliger all of Scappoose. Step daughter; Sharon Grabowski of Atascadero, California and step son; Jimmy Gattis of Las Vegas, Nevada, 15 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren. Her siblings, Cliff and Joan and one grandson, Seth preceded her in death.
What’s your fondest memory of Ethel?
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