Meet our Team
Mary Johnson
I became a member of the advisory board for Friends of Astoria Greenwood Cemetery because I love the people whose loved ones are buried at Greenwood, I love the peaceful and beautiful historic cemetery, and I love the kind and faithful owners Mike and Lynda Leamy.
Also, I find meaning and joy in being part of such a noble cause as preserving Greenwood and helping it to continue to serve a community of fine people.
Emma Johnson
Ever since my first visit to Greenwood several years ago, the cemetery has been a place of refuge and peace to me. It was a year ago when I first became interested in supporting the cemetery, and I began doing more serious volunteer work this summer.
The cemetery Rose Garden holds a very special place in my heart! And I am privileged to be member of such a compassionate and dedicated team!
Leila and Mike Collier
We are so honored to be a part of the Friends of Greenwood Cemetery Board! The peaceful feel and stunning surroundings just make it a very special place. We both have family buried at the cemetery and are finding that there may be more than we thought! Mike has lived in Warrenton his entire life and has direct family roots to the Clatsop Plains Indians. Leila is a transplant from Minnesota and is 100% Finnish. We look forward to helping plan the future of this beautiful cemetery and are honored to be a part of this dedicated board.
Lis & Bob Richardson
We believe Astoria is our spiritual home base. Astoria holds a lot of family history and on our search for a final resting place, Greenwood Cemetery spoke to us. It was obvious to us that this would the right spot.
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We have had businesses in Washington County from 1975-2000, and we founded new volunteer efforts after we moved to Maui in 2001.
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Through the Friends group, we look forward to helping Greenwood Cemetery plan for the future and build a perpetual fund for continued maintenance and restoration.
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Harry Antoniou
Three generations of my family—beginning with my grandfather in the 1930s—are interned at Greenwood. My wife and I have purchased our plot. I always felt a reverence for this beautiful setting and knew at an early age I wanted to be interned there. I have known Mike and Lynda Leamy for years and note that their dedication and commitment to Greenwood is exemplary.
I have not lived full time in Astoria since the 1970s, but I have family and very close friends in the area and have made countless visits over the years. Many locals will recall Andrew & Steve’s Restaurant that my family owned and operated from 1916 until 2012.
I spent over three decades in the travel business. For ten years leading small group adventure travel trips throughout North America, Europe and Africa. Moving into management in 1989, I eventually became the President of Premiere International Corporation. We owned and oversaw a variety of tour operators and grew into a genre leading mid-level corporation employing well over two-hundred people. I have been retired since 2013.
Helping Greenwood continue to prosper operationally, advancing needed physical upgrades and planning for a transition that guarantees a positive future are all goals we can accomplish. Having a mix of local members and people with fresh eyes and varied experiences on the Board will help ensure a transparent and successful process forward.
Marian Soderberg
While assisting with research for a Bue family history book, we discovered that three generations of Bue family members were buried at beautiful and serene Greenwood Cemetery.
While we had been there frequently over the years, it seemed like the appropriate time to purchase stones and markers, making it easier for my 19 first cousins on the Bue side to identify the burial locations of our relatives, especially those in the historical part of the cemetery.
The addition of floral containers made it easier for us to share the flowers that we raise and arrange into bouquets. This work led me to a greater appreciation of burial grounds and for the care needed. I am honored and pleased to be asked to participate in the Friends group and Board.
Mike Soderberg
My father’s grandparents are at Greenwood Cemetery along with many of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We have carried on the 100+year-long tradition of honoring the deceased by decorating their final resting places.
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Each time we visit the cemetery we are impressed by the natural beauty and tranquility of the area, and have long wanted to help preserve that wonderful, totally peaceful atmosphere. Being members of “Friends” gives us that opportunity.
Jasmine Leamy
My name is Jaz, short for Jasmine. I am still learning my way around Greenwood Cemetery.
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My main job description involves working with the living and I like that, in fact it is my specialty. It is what I was bred for! I can do this!
Friends of Astoria Greenwood Cemetery Advisory Board
Who We Are
Friends of Astoria Greenwood Cemetery are a diverse group of like-minded people with an interest and a burden for Greenwood Cemetery. Some of us are 70-year-olds and older working alongside 20-year-olds and younger on the same task. There is something about this place that calls to each of us. None of us are doing this work because we have to. However, we share a longing to help preserve and protect this vital historic place.
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There are currently loving and caring owners that have devoted their working lives to making Greenwood into what it is today and we want to ensure that Greenwood Cemetery survives any ownership retirement and never suffers the fate it seems so many Pioneer cemeteries do by becoming a target for vandalism or otherwise falling into disrepair.
You can help to secure Greenwood Cemetery's community role as a genuine place for those seeking solace, reflection, and remembrance by partnering with us to create a perpetual maintenance fund to serve the cemetery far into the future.
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We hope that the “Who we are” changes over the next few years. We hope that the group is larger and that the needed projects continue to be well-funded. We hope that the group grows younger and younger as opposed to older and older. We hope to have lots to share with and from this Friends group for many years. Consider becoming a Friends of Astoria Greenwood Cemetery Board Member!
Mostly, we hope you join and support us and become a Friend of Astoria Greenwood Cemetery!