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Stenek, Timothy Tuesday, 14 Jan 2003
Timothy Richard Stenek, 64, of Elma, died Tuesday, Jan. 14, in Harborview Medical Center.
Mr. Stenek was born July 18, 1938, to Albert and Irene Stenek in Portland, Ore. He was raised on Vashon Island. He played basketball, baseball, was the class president and graduated from Vashon High School in 1957.
He married
his high school sweetheart Linda Lewis in August 1957 at the “Hitching Post” in Coeur d’ Alene, ID. They lived for a short time on Vashon Island and West Seattle, but later moved to Elma where they lived together and raised their family.
Mr. Stenek began cutting meat as an apprentice at the age of 16 at Kimmel’s Market on Vashon. After graduation he worked at various super markets and Western Pack in Seattle before moving to Elma. He worked at many super markets before starting his own business full time.
He established Tim’s Custom Meats in 1975. He built the business on the premise that if he couldn’t put the meat on his own table, he wouldn’t put it on your’s. He became known for his smoked meats and sausages under his trademark “Meat Master’s Brand.” He also spent time catering many dinners, fundraisers, and events, which he enjoyed because it allowed him to talk to thousands of people all at one time. Mr. Stenek also supported the Gray’s Harbor 4H and FFA youth by helping them raise funds by flooring prices and purchasing animals for processing at the Gray’s Harbor County Fair.
Throughout his years on Vashon and in Elma and the Gray’s Harbor area, Mr. Stenek kept busy coaching Little League and Babe Ruth teams. After his own children were finished playing, he continued his support of local teams and leagues by being a sponsor. He was known by many as spearheading many activities in the Harbor for the good of the community.
Mr. Stenek, according to friends, showed his devotion to God by giving his time and service to Grace Community Church by leading music during worship services every Sunday, attending Bible studies, and fellowshiping with his friends. He spent many hours each week reading the Bible and listening to songs of praise at home and work. He gave his time, money, and materials to numerous remodeling projects the church went through. He was a church board member and deacon who loved singing and spent many of his last days singing with his family and to the staff at the hospital. He felt blessed in knowing that all of his children were saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. He was an inspiration to all who came into contact with him.
Mr. Stenek enjoyed traveling throughout the United States but spent the most vacation time in the Washington Cascades especially around the Cispus River near Randle, Wash. He and his wife loved hosting a yearly summer campout for many families and friends for more than ten years. He was a skilled river rafter and enjoyed taking people on white water rides especially those going for their first ride. He also enjoyed fishing with his children and grandchildren, where he could share quality family time in God’s creation.
Mr. Stenek is survived by his wife Linda of Elma; children Cherese Smith of Witchita Falls, Texas; Teresa Stenek of Bellingham; Tim Stenek of McCleary; Doug Stenek of Elma; Kenneth Stenek of Shishmaref, Alaska; Darcy Potts of Elma; Katarina Carter of Olympia; twelve grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his siblings Patricia and Charles.
A Celebration of Life in his memory was at Grace Community Church in Elma on Saturday, Jan. 18.
Donations in Mr. Stenek’s memory are suggested to the Northwest Burn Foundation, 1515 NW 52nd Street, Suite A, Seattle, WA 98107 for making it possible for the families of burn victims to stay close to their loved one in an apartment close to the hospital; or to Grace Community Church, PO Box 537, Elma, WA 98541.
Evans, James William Friday, 10 Jan 2003
James W. Evans died Jan. 10, 2003, from complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 76 years old.
Born Aug. 5, 1926, in Hollywood, Calif., he graduated from University High School in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1944, and from the University of Washington School of Architecture in 1951.
He served his country for many years as a Reservist and was called briefly to active duty in 1945. In the summer of 1946, he was a smoke jumper for the United States Forest Service in Idaho and Montana. In 1949 he married
(Mary) Patricia Brady.
He was employed by NBBJ for more than 40 years as a project manager and principal-in-charge, working on some of their largest projects, including the Kingdome in Seattle; the US Pavilion in Spokane for the 1974 World’s Fair; the Battelle Research Institute, the University of Washington Teaching Hospital Addition in Seattle; the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage; the David Grant USAF Medical Facility at Travis Air Force Base in Calif; the Scottsdale Memorial Hospital in Arizona; and the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Seattle, among others. He retired from NBBJ in 1994.
Mr. Evans was a private pilot who built and owned several small airplanes over the years. Flying was his life-long passion. He was a member of the EAA, Chapter 26, and was involved with the Arlington Air Show for many years. In 1978, he flew his Piper Archer to the Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wis. He also served as an airport commissioner for the Vashon Municipal Airport from 1990 to 1997.
Mr. Evans was actively involved with Group Health Cooperative, dating back to the mid 1960s, when he served on the Central District Executive Committee. In 1972, he was elected to the Board of Trustees and served until June 1979. During his seven and one-half year tenure there, he held various committee chair positions and served two years as president of the board.
Jim and Pat moved their family from Seattle to Vashon Island in 1971, where he enjoyed growing organic vegetables in his garden. He and Pat moved to Sun City West, Ariz., in 1998.
Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Patricia B. Evans of Sun City West and his six children: Michael and his wife LeAnne of Federal Way, William and his wife Chris of Roseville, Calif., Barbara Johnson and her husband Alan of Snoqualmie, Sandra Didricksen and her husband Jim of Vashon, Kathleen Evans-Nickel and her husband Ed of Phoenix and Jennifer McNaughton and her husband Mike of Redmond, a sister Mary Evans Johnson of Del Mar, Calif., and 12 grandchildren.
Services were in Sun City West, Ariz. Memorials may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association, 919 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611 or to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 6931 Arlington Road, Bethesda, Md. 20814.
Condolences can be sent to the Evans family, c/o P.O. Box 2596, Vashon, Wash. 98070.
Jones, Don Tuesday, 07 Jan 2003
Don Jones remembered for energy, enthusiasm
Don Jones and Cindy Morrison had just finished giving out certificates of appreciation to all the people who had made last summer’s Strawberry Festival a success when Jones turned to Morrison, put his hand on her shoulder and said, “I’m good to go next year if you are.”
“That is Don. It was always like that with him. He was so thrilled to see everyone have such a good time. We were all just exhausted but Don was ready to go again, ” recalled Morrison Monday of a man who seemed to be as tall on energy as he was in stature.
Mr. Jones ended every e-mail he ever sent as co-chair of the Strawberry Festival in 2002 with by saying: “Y’all are the greatest.”
A former professional baseball pitcher, Seafair Festival managing director and Commodore, private school director and Unlimited Racing Commission commissioner, Mr. Jones died Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2003, at the Living Care Center in West Seattle. His wife of 25 years, Thea Jones of Vashon, was with him. Mr. Jones was 73 years old.
While his involvement in hydroplane safety and corporate sponsorship of hydroplane racing was nationally known and well-respected in Seattle, it was the things he did without public recognition that earned him respect on Vashon Island.
New islander Sam Collins recalls how he met Mr. Jones and how Collins and his wife were living in the San Francisco Bay area and longed to live on Vashon.
“We were problem clients because we weren’t able to move real fast. We didn’t have jobs here. We put an offer on one house and it wasn’t the right time and he kept rolling with the punches and understanding where we were. It never seemed to be about the sale with him. It was about us, ” Collins recalled.
While real estate agents normally take their clients to dinner, the Collins ended up taking the Jones’ to dinner because Collins credited Mr. Jones with making the family dream of moving to Vashon come true.
Real estate agents across the island have similar stories. Emma Amiad noted how Mr. Jones was always warm and friendly “even when things were not going well.” And he was always open to others, she recalled.
Bill Chunn of Vashon Island Realty worked with Mr. Jones for 10 years.
“He had organization skills that just didn’t end. He knew people from high places all around the country. King County Executive Ron Sims was a personal friend. When Ron Reagan’s son walked through the door he knew him right away, ” Chunn said.
“He worked hard and was terribly diligent. But he was always fun to play with. We’d go out for nachos and beer on Friday nights until he joined the Mormon church. He’d just have nachos after he joined the church, ” Chunn said of Mr. Jones joining his wife’s church two months ago.
Friends say he joined the church in part because of their family values and that he felt remorseful that he hadn’t had more time to spend with his grandchildren.
Mr. Jones was born Aug. 23, 1929, in Seattle. He graduated from Garfield High School and attended the University of Washington.
The Brooklyn Dodgers picked him up on the Class AA team in Billings, Mont.
But he returned to Seattle where he worked in the payroll office and did computer work for The Boeing Company. His skills in computer graphics remained honed and were used during the Strawberry Festival frequently.
Mr. Jones also is credited with raising money for Seafair, a skill he brought to the Strawberry Festival that helped make the Festival successful.
“Merrill Jannison came up with the idea of sponsorships. When Don came on in 2000, he taught us how to do sponsorships correctly and take it to a new level and from his day forward, it’s been profitable, ” said Beachcomber publisher Lee Ockinga, who worked with Mr. Jones on the Festival.
In the world of hydroplanes, Mr. Jones also was instrumental in developing a closed cockpit, which Seafair organizers say has saved the lives of many racers. Mr. Jones also fought to enforce limits on alcohol consumption at Seafair Festivals.
Survivors include his wife, Thea Jones of Vashon, daughters Patrice Kathleen MacDonald of Seattle, Monica Mary Jones and her husband Bruce of Novato, Calif., Elaine Louise Jones of Loleta, Calif., son Donald Clayton Jones, Jr. of Seattle, grandchildren Lindsey Alana Smith, Eric Colleen MacDonald, Megan Elizabeth MacDonald, Carmen Mercedes Vecchitto, Miles Rosario Vecchitto, Max Kendall Vecchitto, Nila M. Bugala, and Heidi Noella Bugala.
Stepson Richard Gene Gray died earlier.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Vashon Island Pet Protectors, P.O. Box 245, Vashon Island, Wash. 98070.
Richards, Gerry Saturday, 04 Jan 2003
Islander Gerry Joseph Richards died on Jan. 4 in a car accident.
He was born Jan. 15, 1984 to Tim and Lynn Richards.
He grew up on Vashon and went to school on the island for 13 years.
He had just finished his first quarter at Shoreline Community College and had received his highest grades in many years.
He had also just moved to his first apartment in Shoreline and was looking forward to a shorter commute.
Richards, according to his family, was an avid tennis player at the high school and was planning on joining the tennis team at Shoreline. He was also an avid bowler and enjoyed bowling almost as much as tennis.
He cherished and enjoyed the many close friends he spent time with.
Gerry Richards is survived by his family including his parents and brother Michael and sister Lisa of Vashon; uncle and aunt Steve and Jane Poisson of Cannon Beach, Ore.; uncle and aunt Greg and Denise Richards and cousins Lindsay and Scott Richards and step-cousins Larry, Tammy and Kelly Bishop of Sterling Heights, Mich.; uncle and aunt Jeff and Patty Richards of Royal Oak, Mich.; uncle and aunt Tom and Gail Keller and cousins Brian, Greg, and Nicole of Milford, Mich.; aunt Pam Monroe and cousin Courtney of Detroit, MIch.; great aunt Diane Richards of Oak Park, Mich.; grandparents Cecil and Norma Richards of Gladwin, Mich.; and many friends who, according to his parents, he love with all of his heart.
Richards was preceded in death by his grandparents Gerald J. and Margaret C. Poisson.
Remembrances can be made to the Gerald J. Richards Tennis Scholarship Fund, c/o Bank of America, PO Box 857, Vashon, Wash. 98070.
Bowen, Adelaide Mary Sunday, 13 Apr 2003
Adelaide Mary Bowen, formerly of Burton, died April 13 in Concord, Calif. She was 91.
Adelaide was born in Cassville, Wis., and grew up in Montana. She received her nursing degree in Billings, Mont., and later joined the Army Nurse Corps during World War II.
Following the war, she and her husband Rex moved to Vashon Island, where they owned the Harbor Mercantile in Burton for 10 years.
They also spent many years in Kotzebue, Alaska, where they owned and operated Hanson Trading Company.
Adelaide was a loving wife, mother and grandmother and will be missed greatly. She loved traveling in their motor home, working on her stamp collection, watching and feeding the birds and visiting with friends.
Rex, her husband of 52 years, died earlier.
Survivors include her daughter Margaret and husband Don of Anchorage and daughter Bonnie and husband Joe of Clayton, Calif., granddaughters Wendy and Noee and five great grandchildren, including two sets of twins.
A funeral liturgy will be at 1 p.m. Friday, April 25, at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 16100 115th Ave. SW, Vashon.
Interment will follow at the Vashon cemetery. Following the service, for friends and family, there will be a celebration of Adelaide’s life at Island Funeral Home, 18005 Vashon Highway SW.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Children’s Hospital, P.O. Box 50020 — S200, Seattle, Wash. 98145-5020.
Bryant, Jeanne Sunday, 06 Apr 2003
Jeanne Bryant died on April 6, 2003, after an extended illness.
She was born in Columbus Ohio of a New England Family. She came to Seattle during World War II to be part of the home front at the Boeing Company.
She met and married
James (Art) Bryant in 1957. She was mother to three children, Kathleen, Twyla, and Steven. The family moved to Dockton in 1966.
She was active in the Vashon Schools, a Vashon volunteer firefighter at the Dockton station and a supporter of Vashon Island Pet Protectors.
Her interests were genealogy, native culture and their crafts, and animals and birds.
She became a silversmith and weaver in the Navajo style. She was a member of the Navajo Club, assisting those relocated from the reservation when they were being educated in the USA.
She was foster mother to Marshallese youth, especially two who came and lived with the family in Dockton and attended Vashon High School.
At her request, her ashes will be interred in her family cemetery in Portsmouth, N.H.
She would be pleased to have friends assist Vashon Island Pet Protectors on her behalf. Vashon Island Pet Protectors, P.O. Box 245 Vashon, Wash. 98070
Gordon, Patricia Tuesday, 06 May 2003
Patricia W. Gordon died May 10, 2003. She was 89 years old.
She was born on May 6, 1914, in Seattle to Winifred and Harry Shaw.
She was a graduate of Franklin High School and the University of Washington, where she was a member of Chi Omega Sorority.
It was there she met her future husband, Robert B. Gordon, of Tacoma. After their marriage in 1939, they lived in Tacoma until Bob’s retirement from the Puget Sound National Bank in 1970, when they moved to their summer home at Magnolia Beach on Vashon Island.
They enjoyed skiing and boating for many years, and for the past 30 years, they traveled extensively all over the world. They spent their winter months in La Jolla, Calif.
Last Oct. 7, they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary.
When their sons Bob Jr. and Dick were growing up, Mrs. Gordon was active in Cub Scouting and the Lowell PTA. She was a member of the Tacoma Guild of the Tacoma Orthopedic Association, the First Presbyterian Church and the Tacoma Chi Omega Alumni. She was also one of the original members of the Western Weeders Garden Club and the Friday Bridgers.
Her son Bob Jr. died earlier as did her brother Ted Shaw, who is missing in action from World War II.
Survivors include her husband Bob and son Dick and his wife Fran, daughter-in-law Alice Gordon, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
At her request, there will not be a funeral or a memorial service. Those who wish may send memorials to the Vashon-Maury Heritage Association at P.O. Box 720, Vashon, Wash. 98070, or to the charity of one’s choice.
Shepherd, Lianne Saturday, 03 May 2003
Lianne Shepherd died Saturday, May 3, 2003, after a third cerebral bleed in 12 years. She was 40 years old.
Ms. Shepherd was born in 1962 and grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast near Houston. She won high school honors in band and drama, attended college and managed a small clothing store there.
Her parents, David and Jane Shepherd, moved to Vashon Island in 1983 and she followed two years later.
She settled in Bellevue and began working at Thousand Trails and soon was supervisor of their telephone reservations department.
In 1991 she was hospitalized with a brain aneurysm the size of a lemon, an inoperable birth defect that is usually fatal. She fought back from that and returned to work at Eddie Bauer in Bellevue. But in 1993, it bled again. And this time her recovery was more difficult. She experienced short-term memory loss, vision problem and some muscle weakness.
Despite that, she volunteered at the McMurray Middle School library, the Vashon Chamber of Commerce, and Granny’s Attic before becoming a midday regular at SBC.
Throughout her 40 years, friends and family say she blessed all those who came near with light and laughter and she will be missed and gratefully remembered.
Ms. Shepherd was known to customers at Seattle’s Best Coffee and the workers in the Thriftway Deli, all of whom friends say she “harassed unmercifully.”
She was known for loving to work with people. No one was a stranger and no one escaped hearing exactly what she thought — in a nice way, her friends and family say.
Mary Gleb, a retired McMurray librarian, and Sheryl Allen of SBC played important roles in helping her regain an active life after her recovery, her family says, adding that they are grateful to those friends as well as Vashon Island Fire & Rescue, neurosurgeons, nurses at Harborview Medical Center, Rev. Joyce O’Connor McGee, and the others.
Survivors include her parents, her sister Laurie Heath, brother Mark Shepherd, brother-in-law Chris Heath, and nephew and niece Tyler and Maggie Heath.
A memorial celebration of her life will be at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 8, at Vashon United Methodist Church. All her island friends and acquaintances are welcome.
Donations to Harborview Medical Center are encouraged instead of flowers.
Arrangements were entrusted to Island Funeral Services.
