Mary Louise Diggles

Mary Louise Diggles passed away at her home in Canby, Oregon on January 16, 2006 after a courageous three year battle with cancer. Mary will be missed by those she touched through out her life. In a word, her life was an inspiration to all that knew her.

Mary was born in Detroit Michigan on September 24th 1948 to Robert and Anne Cummings and moved to Maywood, New Jersey with her family in 1955. Mary returned to Royal Oak, Michigan in 1963 to attend the Shrine of the Little Flower High School where she met her future husband Mike. Mary went on to earn her Registered Nursing Degree from Highland Park College in Detroit in 1970, the same year she and Mike were married. Mary continued her education and received her degree as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in 1972 at Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital in Detroit. This began a long and successful career as a practicing CRNA beginning in Detroit and later in 1976, at Kaiser and St Vincent Hospitals in Portland, Oregon. She was the President of the Oregon Association of Nurse Anesthetist in 1992-1993 and participated on the Oregon Dental Board as an anesthesia consultant. Mary also volunteered her time and skills as a member of the Northwest Medical Team providing Anesthesia care to the Oaxaca Indian’s in Mexico. In 1993 Mary continued her successful professional career by forming her company On-Site Anesthesia Services Inc. providing Anesthesia providers and services to Ambulatory Surgery Centers in both the Salem and Portland area. She was known by her Patients, Clients, Employee’s and Peers as an outstanding practitioner, an honest and committed business professional, a mentor, an educator, and most of all a person of integrity who always placed the safety of the patient first and foremost in all of her decisions.

As successful as Mary was in her professional career, Mary never ceased to engage in all areas of life and in the live of others. A devoted Wife and Mother to her three children, she inspired each of them to also be people of integrity and endless possibilities in their personal and professional lives. She had the innate quality of creating this sense of optimism with everyone who knew her. She climbed the major mountain peak of the Northwest, she was a backpacker, scuba diver, Portland to Coast Relay competitor, University lecturer, councilor and most of all, a continual seeker of truth through her relationship with the Lord.

Mary is survived by her husband Mike, her daughter Carrie Anne, her son Benjamin, his wife Tracy and her son Grant, his wife Sarah and two grandsons Thomas and Michael, her sisters Edie, Kathy, Theresa and her brother Joseph.