Viola Helen Bjork

Viola Helen Bjork passed away on February 4, 2013 in Moses Lake, Washington.

Viola was born in San Francisco, California on August 29, 1922, to Roy Allen and Rufina Ayers. She was the third child in a family of seven children. She had three brothers and three sisters. The family was raised in Redwood City, California and she attended Sequoia High School. She had a beautiful singing voice and was recommended by her music teacher to attend the San Francisco School of Music for vocal training while in high school. Music was a great love in her life and she brought enjoyment to many by sharing her talent for singing with others.

Viola met Norman David Bjork at a dance and they married a month later on October 5, 1941, a month before Norman was inducted into the Army. They had three children Sharon, Norman, and Charlene and lived theirmarried life mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area. Viola worked for many years at the Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, California, as a surgical laboratory technician. She thoroughly enjoyed her work. She retired around 1987 and in 1992 she came to live in Moses Lake, Washington to be near her daughter, Sharon, and her family. She was a member of the Moses Lake 10th Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Viola is survived by her children, Sharon (Steve) Tolley, Norman David Bjork, and Charlene (Brian) McCutcheon, grandchildren, James (Carrie) Bjork, Jon (Carrie) Tolley, Michael (Jennifer) Bjork, Steven Benjamin Tolley, JoAnna (Daniel) Guzman, Daniel (Megan) Tolley, and Caitlin McCutcheon. She had ten great-grandchildren, Rachel, Olivia, Michael, Hannah, Daniel, Alex, Ian, Cassandra, James Jr, and Isabella. Her surviving siblings are Frances (Edward) Artru of Redwood City, California; Dorothy Hoffman of Bremerton, Washington; and David (Evelyn) Ayers of Augusta, Georgia.

Preceding her in death was her husband Norman in 1969, brothers Roy Ayers Jr. and Harry Ayers, a sister Mary Scott and her mother and father.

Viola fought a courageous battle for many years with Alzheimer's and severe osteoarthritis. She was a loving, giving mother and a friend to many. She was a truly unselfish person that shared her modest means and sacrificed much for her family. We would like to acknowledge and thank those who gave mother such loving care over the past years at Columbia Crest Rehabilitation Center. Although we grieve her passing, we also rejoice in the reunion she is having with those who have gone on before her.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, February 8, 2013 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Stake Center, 1515 Division St. Viewing will be from 9 -9:45 a.m. at the church. Interment will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Warden. Please sign the online guestbook or leave a note for the family at www.kayserschapel.com. Arrangements are in care of Kayser's Chapel & Crematory.