Tamara Ann Ridout, 53, of Lebanon, Oregon passed away Tuesday morning, December 30, 2025. Tamara was born on a military base in Nuremberg, Germany to Michael Owen Ridout and Phyllis Jean Ray. When she was just a toddler, they moved back to California. Other than a year in Arizona in her early elementary years, she lived in California until she moved to Oregon around 2011. Her family lived in Grass Valley by their grandparents until she was about 15 when her mom married Larry and they moved to Riverside.
 
During her early years they lived far away from the city so most of her time was spent in the country; swimming in rivers, lakes and ponds. She also loved baseball and did that while she was young. Tamara truly enjoyed the outdoors and fishing was her life which she did a lot of with her grandfather. There she learned many skills helping him build his home and work on cars and equipment. She developed a love of cars and that became her main occupation during her working years. She loved mechanic work and was very good at it.
 
She spent a season working on the fires with the California Conservation Corps. That was a great time for her and she developed many great traits which she was able to use throughout her life.
 
She also had a love for all animals. Her dogs were her family all throughout her life and she treated them as such. She also loved her pet spiders and showed them off as often as she could which doesn’t make sense because she was actually scared of moths!
 
When she moved to Oregon, she made friends quickly and gathered them around her often.  She was always making people laugh. There she developed her love of kayaking and any chance she got she was out on the river with her partner, Teri. Tamara always put other people first and would do anything for her friends even if it put her out. Everyone else always came first.
 
Tamara is survived by her sister, Theresa Lynn White, a niece, Shyanna and two nephews, James and Ibn. She is also survived by her loving partner Teri Herron.
She was preceded in death by her mom, Phyllis Powers and her dad Larry Powers (who raised her) and her niece Destiny. 

There will be an Open House style Celebration of Life between 5-7pm, Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at the Lebanon Mercantile, 661 S Main St., Lebanon OR 97355. Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling the arrangements. www.sweethomefuneral.com
 
Tamara was loved by many and will be greatly missed.