Delphia Gwen and John "Ed" Pouillon

May the Bright Star of Heaven light your way home . . . 

After spending sixty-seven years together, John Edgar Pouillon and Delphia Gwen Hill Pouillon commenced their respective, but separate journeys into spirit on January 23, 2012 and August 30, 2019.

John Edgar (Ed) Pouillon was born to European emigrants, Elizabeth (Elsie) Frederica Neidel and John Batiste Pouillon on September 15, 1926 in Salt lake City, Utah, and died January 23, 2012 in Portland, Oregon. He was the eldest of four children. His siblings were Bernice Pouillon Young, Franklin Dee Pouillon (deceased) and Timothy Pouillon (deceased). 

Dad and his family were living in Garfield, Utah in 1943 when he joined the Air Force during WWII. He enlisted before graduating from high school but received his diploma.  He was in flight training until the end of the war.  He married his Cyprus High School sweetheart, Gwen Hill in Denver, Colorado on June 30, 1945. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1950.  Back home in Salt Lake City, Utah they began building their family. John worked various jobs in Salt Lake and became a manager for Lennox Industries.  In 1968 a company transfer took the family to Portland, Oregon.  Over the years the Pouillon's owned several HVAC businesses in the Portland area.  The last was Hydro-Air Sales. John was a member of the Rotary Club of Tualatin.  At retirement, he volunteered at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. 

Dad loved hunting with his father-in-law Samuel Forest Hill and their country cronies.  Deer season took them to the Uintah’s where they annually camped at Smith-Morehouse.  An inveterate builder, his first craftsman project was the legendary 'Ed's shed,' which went down in history as the first collapsible portable cabin. Every autumn it was loaded on his brother-in-law’s (Clyde Gerome) Sugarhouse Appliance truck for transport to deer camp. Dad was a magnanimous and a generous soul.  

Delphia Gwen Hill Pouillon was born April 20, 1926 on the pioneer homestead of her Morris ancestors in Granger/Hunter, Utah. She was the youngest daughter of Samuel Forest Hill and Almena Mae Morris. Gwen attended Cyprus High School where she met John Edgar Pouillon (Ed to his friends).  The youngest of the Hill girls, Gwen was ‘last leaf on the family tree.’  Her siblings were:  Irene Ridd (Glen), Myrl Knoll (Ernie), LaRee Pherson (Neil), Valoy Bagley (Rene), Maxine Newton (George), and Ardella Gerome (Clyde). Her lone brother Samuel Jr. (Sheila), was the baby of the family and her best childhood friend.  

Forever a farm girl, Gwen enjoyed nature – especially birds and butterflies.  An enthusiastic gardener she grew spectacular begonias and fuchsias in the verdant climate of the Pacific Northwest. Gwen was a voracious reader and loved to travel. Truly an outstanding mother and homemaker, she was also an accomplished seamstress and enjoyed classical music.  A loyal friend to her children, she always declared they were her life’s crowning accomplishment. She always put others before herself.

Gwen worked for Beaverton School District’s bus barn in the 1970s and later as a volunteer at Meridian Park Hospital in the Patient Information Office.  The queen of organization, she worked as Ed’s bookkeeper and consultant.  As a loving grandmother, her family will always remember her ready smile, wonderful cookies, and helping hand. She died August 30, 2019 at the age of ninety-three in Renton, Washington surrounded by her family.   

With great fondness and admiration, Gwen and Ed will forever be missed by their children; Suzanne ‘Sue’ Simonich (Pat) and Brian Pouillon (Karla), three grandsons; Greg Simonich (Meaghan), Sam Pouillon (Amiee), Jesse Pouillon (Lindsey), and their two daughters Mila and Brynn.

At their request Gwen’s and Ed’s ashes will be scattered on the Oregon Coast near Neahkahnie. Ed will be memorialized at the Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, WA.

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