February 7 1951 April 11 2020 (age 69)
Obituary Denise Lurue Sundquist of Irrigon passed away just before midnight on April 11, 2020, the eve of Easter Sunday after a battle with an ongoing illness. She was 69 years old. Denise was a custodian at Umatilla High School for many years, retiring in 2017. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to The Wounded Warriors Project. Denise was born in 1951 in Greensboro, NC to Raynell and Garland Williams. When she was a young girl, her family migrated west to Long Beach, CA, as many did during the post war economic boom. After high school she married William “Sonny” Sundquist. Together they had three children: Sondra, Michelle, and Christopher. They later divorced. Living in SE Washington State, she enrolled in an auto body school, learning to repair and paint cars, while raising her three children on her own. She acquired a classic Ford Thunderbird and gave it a makeover including a beautiful red paint job. She was so proud of that car. However her career was short lived, as the male-dominated profession was not ready to accept a woman in their ranks, in those days. She continued to work hard to raise her kids. She worked in fast food for awhile, and had a job at a pizza restaurant for a number of years. For a brief time she was known as “The Pizza Lady” all over the town of Walla Walla, due to starring in a local TV commercial for the pizza joint. She didn’t enjoy the fame, but was a good sport about it when all her beer drinking groupies asked her for an autograph at the tavern across the street from the pizza place. With Chuck, she lived in Arizona, Idaho, and finally Eastern Oregon, as his line of work necessitated relocating from time to time. While in Arizona she worked for the school district, as “The Cafeteria Lady”. She just loved working around all the children. That experience led her to jump at the chance to work for the Umatilla School District after relocating to Oregon. Some of the students thought she was overly strict, if she caught them making a mess, or otherwise misbehaving. However the students respected and admired her. She referred to all the students as “My Kids”. First and foremost, she loved her family: her children and their spouses(Sondra, Michelle and Joe, Chris and Jessica), her grandchildren (Korey, April, Jake, Jesse, Amanda, Zach, Skyler, Bear, and Mason), her two sisters (Sharon and Carol Lynn) and her brother (Eddie), and all the extended family she acquired along the way. Denise never stopped grieving the loss of her mother, because she loved her mom so much. She was passionate about flowers and house plants, enjoyed a large number of craft hobbies, riding on the back of a Harley (even in the rain), live comedy shows, and having a good time in general. Pity the fool that went fishing with her, if said fool could not accept being skunked by a girl. She touched the lives of many, and will be missed by all. A celebration gathering will be held at a later date. Please share memories of Denise with her family at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com Burns Mortuary of Hermiston, Oregon is in care of arrangements. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Denise L (Williams) Sundquist, please visit our floral store.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Denise L Williams Sundquist February 7 1951 April 11 2020 (age 69).
Death notice for the town of: Hermiston, state: Oregon