Skip to main contentJada Mae Langloss, the lone coyote, died at a Beaverton care home last week following complications of lung surgery. She was 65 years old.
Homeless activist, professional vagabond, perennial candidate, runaway grandma--Jada collected labels like the buttons pinned to her floppy hat, but none of them did her justice.
There was a time, in the distant past, when Jada pursued a conventional middle-class existence. She wore a beehive and a gold-lamé outfit when she waited tables at the Space Needle. Later she sold real estate. But sometime around 1968, Jada tuned in, turned on and dropped out. She never looked back.
For two decades, she was a fixture on local ballots, mounting dozens of quixotic campaigns for governor, mayor, and Multnomah County chair on the Preservative Party ticket. Her specific platform evolved over the years--she once championed the rights of extraterrestrials--but she never wavered from her conviction that Portland should do more for the downtrodden.
Langloss, who spent last winter at the homeless camp Dignity Village, left a confusing series of last wishes. She wanted her ashes scattered across the plains of South Dakota. She wanted to be buried beneath Pioneer Courthouse Square. She wanted flutes to be carved from her thigh bones and pot plants to be grown from her skull.
She was that kind of woman.
Her wake will be held Thursday, Oct 21, at 3 pm at the Goose Hollow Inn on 1927 SW Jefferson St. (bring a flower). Send contributions to the Native American Student and Community Center at PSU, 725-9695.
WWeek 2015