Ellen F. Rygh

Ellen passed away on July 26th at the age of 74 with her daughter, son and sister at her side. Ellen was born to Delbert and Ruth Deringer in Grants Pass Oregon, where she grew up. She graduated from Grants Pass High School, where she was a drum major in the band. She moved to Salem, OR in 1964 to be closer to her sisters Leona and Carol. There she met her first husband. They had three children: Kimberly, Kevin, Kelly. They later divorced in 1975. She worked for The State of Oregon (DHS) Children’s’ Services Division. She loved to work with foster kids. One of the proud moments of her career was in 1994 when she organized a coat drive with the help of the Keizer Eagles to donate 2,000 new and used coats for kids. This made the front page of the Statesman Journal. She received a letter from Oregon Governor, Barbara Roberts, for her work and dedication to help to keep kids warm in the winter, and for her work with foster kids. Ellen helped organize one of the very first Salem area Snowballs; an area dance for teens. She did makeup and lights for plays at the Pentacle Theatre. She also helped with the makeup for her daughter, Kim, and the girls that were in fashion shows and pageants. She loved spending time with Kim doing the pageants. She enjoyed taking her boys fishing and swimming at Cascade Gate Way Park, and camping at Silver Falls State Park with close family friends (the Hartman’s). She also taught us how to skip rocks on the Rogue River in Grants Pass, where we would go on Memorial Day weekends to the jet boat races and parade called the Boatnik Parade.

She taught her kids to stand up for what‘s right and wrong, know your facts, never start a fight, and respect for ladies. She later married Richard Rygh on January 31, 1991 in Las Vegas. They enjoyed traveling to Las Vegas and Hawaii, but sadly divorced in 2003. They remained close friends and would often travel together with groups of friends, including traveling to Europe and on many cruises. She loved to go out and dance and have fun and could be found in the 80s and 90s at the Prime County, 50/50 tavern where she took Kim and Kevin on their 21st Birthdays. And then later enjoyed her time at the Keizer Eagles, and the Keizer Elks. After she retired, she volunteered at the Elks. Her favorite thing in retirement was to watch her grandkids. Just spending time with them made her so happy. Unfortunately, her son, Kelly, was killed in the line of duty on June 16 th 2007 as a Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy. This put her into a very deep depression. She later traveled to Arkansas to a retreat for parent’s of fallen police officers which was called COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors) which helped her with the loss of her youngest son.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Delbert and Ruth Deringer; sister, Carol Berg; and son Kelly J. Fredinburg. She is survived by her sister, Leona (Wayne) Gammon of Redmond OR. Daughter, Kimberly, Walsh (Terry Aikman) Keizer OR. Son, Kevin (Susan) Fredinburg, Keizer OR. Step daughters Tammy (Rygh) Foster, and Julie (Rygh) Wagner. Grandkids: Bobby Riggi, Rochelle (Riggi) Hamblin, Miranda Fredinburg, Kaydin Fredinburg, Tucker Walsh, and Brittany Schaffner. Five great grandchildren, 4 nephews and 2 nieces.


Visitation will be on August 7 th from 4 pm to 8 pm at Keizer Funeral Chapel Keizer OR. There will also be a Celebration of life on August 16th at her son’s house from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm. Contact Kevin or Kim for location. Please come and share stories of Ellen. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a contribution to COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors). Put in memo line: for Parents and Sibling Retreats, P.O Box 2224 Fairview, OR 97024.


Mom we love you and will miss you, please go dance with the angels. You will always be in our hearts.