Elizabeth Hiestand Obituary

Elizabeth Mary Hiestand, 81, went to heaven peacefully on May 18, 2022. She was surrounded by her loving family.
Elizabeth, a longtime resident of the Banks community, was born on July 12, 1940, in Portland, OR. She was the third of six children born to Frederick and Lenore Marie (McGrath) Cunningham. She was raised in Portland and graduated from the St Mary's Academy with the Class of 1958. Elizabeth then enrolled at the University of Portland, where she was voted homecoming princess in her class.
Elizabeth met her future husband, John Hiestand Jr. at a University dance through a mutual friend. They were married on June 18, 1960, at Saint Cecilia Catholic Church in Beaverton, OR, and embarked on many journeys together as a young couple - traveling around the world before settling in Palo Alto, CA.
In 1972 they moved back to Oregon, where they purchased a property farm in Laurel and were among the first to plant Pinot Noir and Riesling in the Willamette Valley in the 1970s at the site that would become known as Ruby Vineyards. In 1980, they moved to Yamhill where they set out to build their dream home from the ground up. They settled on their farm here in Banks in 1992.
Above all of her other accomplishments and adventures, Elizabeth was an incredible mother to her five children: Anne-Marie, Maria, John Fallon III, Christopher, and Gregory - and a doting wife to John Jr. before she passed away just shy of their 61st wedding anniversary.
Elizabeth devoted her entire life to her family, and God - and always put the needs of others before her own. She was a devout Catholic and each day she lived in the works of kindness, joy, compassion, empathy, love, and grace. She was an amazing artist in the disciplines of painting, watercolors, photography and film - and a documentarian of all things family-related. She was a student of the natural world, having studied natural medicine and herbal healing and becoming a business owner - she operated "The Herb Shop " in Banks, Oregon as well as several kiosks at Washington Square and the Lloyd Center where she promoted natural healing and herbs. She owned and operated Oregon's Own Farm Gardens and Gifts in Glenwood, which focused on local sustainable items and natural healing remedies, antiques, and food items. Elizabeth loved to cook all types of cuisine, and she loved to bake healthy fare as well as to garden and grow nutritious food. She loved animals of all kinds - especially horses. She was an equestrian and her love for horses was contagious - as was the joy she found through song and dance.
Some of the greatest pleasures that Elizabeth enjoyed later in life included spending time with her beloved grandchildren, Tatjana and Hayden, picking blackberries, and baking cobblers. She was thrilled to watch them grow and rejoiced in their accomplishments.
Elizabeth was preceded in death by her parents, Lenore and Frederick Cunningham. She is survived, adored, and celebrated by her loving husband, John Jr., five children, and their spouses: Anne-Marie and Michael Poe of Seattle, WA; Marie Hiestand of Honolulu, John F Hiestand III and his partner Jeremy Neel; Banks OR; and daughter Kiyana Neel of Missoula MT; Christopher Hiestand of Woodburn OR; and Gregory Hiestand of Banks OR; and two grandchildren; Tatjana Poe of Seattle, Wa. and Hayden Poe of New York.
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