On November 25, 2021, Harriet Clara Candelaria passed away in Santa Clara, CA after many years of heart complications and dementia.
Harriet was born on January 9,1936 in Farmington, MN. Born to Hazel and George Johnson.
Later she lived in Brea, Ca from about 1944 to 1948. Around 1948, the family moved to Central Point ,Oregon where she attended Central Point Junior High School and graduated from Crater High School in 1953. In school, she was also know as nickname "Johnny" based on her maiden name Johnson.
Between 1953-1955 – She attended Southern Oregon College Pre-Nursing program in Ashland, OR, Harriet joined the Sigma Epsilon Pi Sorority and graduated from University of Oregon School of Nursing in Portland, OR in 1955. In 1956 she attended courses at Oregon State Hospital Psychiatric Nursing Affiliation. In 1957, she worked at the Public Health OB Rotation at Jackson County Public Health Department. In 1958 she assisted in open heart surgery at Univ. of Oregon Medical School Hospital.
In 1960 Harriet moved to California and obtained a RN position at Mills Memorial hospital in San Mateo, CA. In 1960, while living in Redwood City, she attended Methodist Mingles single group and met future husband Samuel Egger. They were married in 1962 at the Wesley Methodist church in Palo Alto, CA. Harriet and Samuel had two sons: Stanley and Steven Egger. Twenty-five years later, in 1986, Harriet and Samuel were divorced.
While she was married to Samuel, in 1965, Harriet obtained a nursing position at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA. During her work at El Camino, Harriet worked in the Heart Surgery Dept. and worked on many heart value replacements when it was just being pioneered. Harriet was a hard worker and was always given praise by her co-workers. After 30 years at El Camino Hospital, Harriet retired in the 1996.
In 1991 she later married Richard Candelaria. They enjoyed travelling and spending time with family. In retirement, she and Richard moved to Desert Hot Springs and lived there till 2005 when they moved back to San Jose. While living in Desert Hot Springs, she enjoyed attending many clubs and was a member of the Solskinn Norwegian Lodge in Palm Desert.
Harriet enjoyed visiting her local Norwegian Lodge whether it was in Palm Springs or the Los Gatos Nordhal Grieg Lodge. Harriet enjoyed connecting with relatives in Norway and made many trips there. She was interested in her Norwegian heritage and took on many positions in the Sons of Norway and Daughter's of Norway clubs. In addition, she enjoyed visiting her nursing school classmates for reunions or local retired nursing luncheons periodically.
Harriet enjoyed painting Rosemaling artwork on woodwork and gardening at home. In earlier years, Harriet and her family enjoyed many trips to Oregon for the Summer vacation and went camping at Willow Lake, OR. The trips involved hiking, water skiing, fishing, and cooking.
In 2021, Harriet and Richard moved to a Senior Living Retirement facility in San Jose, CA. After many years of heart complications, Harriet passed away on Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov 25th, 2021.
She is survived by two sons: Stanley Egger (wife Linda Egger and daughter Stephanie Egger) and Stephen Egger (wife Ana Egger and son Sean Egger). She also is survived by her sister Mary Johnson's (husband William Johnson) children: Connie Summers, Larrie Johnson and Tammie Bankhead.
Graveside service will be held at Memory Gardens Memorial Park, 1395 Arnold Lane, Medford, OR 97501 on Saturday, July 16th, 2022. Time: 10am.
Charity donation can be given to OSHU (her nursing school). In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the OHSU foundation at 513-228-1730 or About the OHSU Foundation