It is with great sadness that we share the news of Monica Jill (Bierman) Acton’s death on January 22, 2023.
She was born January 8, 1954 in Denver, Colorado, the middle child of Oliver and Janet (Gauchat) Bierman. After several moves, her family settled in Hastings, Nebraska. She graduated from Hastings High School in 1972. After high school, she moved to Texas and received a BSN degree from Texas Women’s University in Denton and later lived in Dallas for a decade. She bounced around a little bit, even working for a short time as a nurse on a cruise ship out of San Juan, Puerto Rico before moving to the Pacific Northwest where she met her husband.
She spent the majority of her nursing career in Alaska, working in public health. She did a lot of good for a lot of people, especially children. She was personally responsible for vaccinating hundreds of children in Alaska. She had immense respect for nurses, but always regretted her decision to become one. She thought that she would have enjoyed life more by studying languages and becoming a linguist. As it turned out, through mostly self study, she became fluent in Spanish. She studied hard, took classes, went to several Spanish-speaking countries, and spoke with many tutors from around the world via computer. They became her friends, and she was a dear friend to them as well. Beginning before Covid, and throughout the lockdown, it gave her purpose.
She was always very proud of being thin and healthy, and very flexible. She exercised and did yoga, and could get into positions most people could only dream about. Monica was married to James Acton for almost thirty years. Jim is an outdoorsman, to say the least, and he and Monica lived an adventurous life. They lived in Washington state, Arizona, multiple places in Alaska, and finally in Lebanon, Oregon since 2020. They had a Casita that they would take out on the road. One thing that they did every evening as a family was to take their dog for a walk. Rain or shine. Ice or snow. First Jake, and then Chico. She was a dog mom.
She would clear land tree limb by tree limb just to make it look nicer, and of course for the exercise. She could be the life of the party. She was inquisitive and smart. She could tell a story. She listened to NPR. She bought funky clothes and shoes. She once sat next to Bruce Dern on an airplane. She was the CEO of the fictional Frumpy’s Clothing Line that kept her sister in stitches with her hilarious texts. She loved collecting Troll dolls. She liked funny little things around the house, like stuffed animals or little wooden creatures that Jim would make in his shop. She would name them all and then laugh. She was looking forward to being here longer, enjoying her retirement, speaking Spanish, hiking around in the woods and planting a garden every spring with Jim, but most of all, growing old. Her life was cut short by cancer.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Many people will miss her, including her husband, Jim, brother-in-laws, Wayne (Judy) Acton of Vernonia, OR, David (Ardis) Acton of Vancouver, WA, Gary (Linda) Acton of Vancouver, WA, Lauren (John) Acton of Molalla, OR, her sister Marta (Robert) White of Salem, OR, and her brother Michael (Nancy) Bierman of Dallas, TX. Nieces, Mariah, Jessica, and Molly. Nephews, James, Simon and Daniel. Grand nieces, Piper, Pilar, and Penny and grand nephew Damon.
Thank you to everyone who helped care for Monica over the last two plus years. Especially all the nurses! You work so hard! In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network(BCAN). You can read about their amazing work at www.BCAN.org. Love you Mony. Rest in peace.
Published by Huston Jost Funeral Home – Lebanon on Jan. 24, 2023.
