Jolene M. Kuhns

November 28, 1933 - October 15, 2023

Jolene Kuhns passed away on October 15, 2023, in Kennewick, Washington at the age of 89. A memorial service will be held later in October.

Jolene was born to Paul and Helen (Rogers) Hoppe on November 28, 1933, in Eugene, Oregon, where she lived until completing high school.

Jolene enrolled at Oregon State University in 1952 and received a BS in Science Education in 1956. She spent a year teaching in Baker City, Oregon to complete her B.S. degree. She was a member of the Delta Zeta Chi sorority at Oregon State and remained a member of the sorority for 69 years to stay connected to members and friends.

After graduation, Jolene had an interest in science research and applied to the Master of Library Science program at University of Washington where she completed that degree in 1959. She found a faculty position quickly at Portland State University as the Science Librarian later that same year.

Jolene met her husband Joe in Portland, and they were married on June 6, 1963, at the First United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon. Joe's career brought the family to various parts of Washington before he took a role in the Tri-Cities where Jolene and her family lived for more than 50 years.

Joe and Jolene enjoyed travel in retirement and had the opportunity to visit many states in the U.S. and countries, including Mexico, Canada, Panama, Bermuda, Hong Kong, China, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and a trip to Argentina, Uruguay and Cape Horn around the southern tip of South America.

Jolene's interests included cooking and collecting cookbooks. She built a large collection of antique salt cellars, enjoyed Cougar football games, and spending time at the family beach house in Lincoln City, Oregon. Jolene was an avid reader all throughout her life and, in recent years, always looked forward to the latest Grisham novel that would be released every fall. That was in addition to reading mystery novels and various titles from her church book club.

Jolene was also a member of the Kennewick First United Methodist Church during her adult life and was very active in many church and community organizations. Jolene was the Church Librarian and was named Woman of the Year in 2008 for being a leader with the United Methodist Women organization. This group organized the annual Holiday Bazaar to raise funds to support many valued church programs. Jolene was also a leader at the Friends of the Mid-Columbia Library where she co-managed the annual book sale.

Jolene is survived by her son Murray of Kennewick, daughter Brenda of Seattle, son Brad and son-in-law Martin of San Francisco, sister-in-law Mary Ann (Kuhns) and Peter Ringsrud of East Wenatchee, cousin Debi (Rogers) and Gerry Lord of Portland, and brother-in-law David Melnick of San Francisco.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to the Oregon State University Scholarship Fund; or the charity of your choice.