Lesandra Carolyn Joyner died November 28, 2012 at the age of 96. A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, December 4, 2012, at St. Patrick Catholic Church. A recitation of the rosary and viewing will be at 7 p.m. Monday, December 3, 2012, at Riverview Abbey Mortuary.

Born March 14, 1916, and raised in NW Portland, Lesandra Javoric, the fourth of five children, always remained proud of her Croatian heritage and active in the St. Patrick Church community. Originally on the Restoration Committee and then on the Parish Council at the time of her death, Lesandra attended Mass every Sunday at the church where she had been baptized, educated and married.

Married during the war years, Lesandra and William Joyner exchanged wedding vows at St. Patrick Church on Jan. 16, 1944. Widowed in August 1946, she had only one child, her daughter, Lynn. Lynn and her husband of 45 years, Rocky Harris, gave Lesandra six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, to whom she was extremely devoted.

Lesandra graduated from Commerce High School in 1934 with a long list of secretarial skills. She also had the distinction of being its first female senior class president. Although making ends meet during the Depression was difficult, Lesandra managed to save enough money to attend Oregon State College in Corvallis. Eventually, Lesandra became a private secretary, a position she held for 35 years, first at M. Trumbo Co., a wholesale building materials firm, which was bought out by Oregon Pacific, and which, eventually, became Sequoia Supply.

Besides working and raising her daughter during those years, Lesandra managed to do a lot of traveling: Guatemala, Panama Canal, Mexico, Hawaii, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Bali, Australia, the Caribbean, Turkey and the Greek Islands. In more recent years, her travels were limited to going to church and to family gatherings and celebrations. Her family was quite proud of their adventuresome, stylish and caring mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. They will miss her terribly.

Having outlived her brothers and sister, Lesandra is survived by her daughter, Lynn (Rocky Harris); and grandchildren, Tony (Camille) Harris, David (Michelle) Harris, Christopher (Sarah) Harris, Amy (Michael) Contreras, Alexandra (Russ) Menegat and Annaliese Harris.