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Truselo, Florence "Tad" Monday, 24 Mar 2003
Florence “Tad” Truselo, who had lived on Vashon Island for 80 years, died on March 24, 2003. She was 83 years old.
Tad was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., on July 7, 1919, to parents Edward and Florence “Flicker” Burd. At 4 years old, she headed West with her mother on a train to Seattle.
Her mother worked the summer of 1925 at Kiwanis Lodge at Camp Sealth on Vashon Island. Tad’s mother purchased a lot from William Bates on Paradise Cove. Mother and daughter lived in a tent on the property during the summer of 1925 while building their cottage.
She graduated from Stadium High School in 1937. She attended Pasadena Playhouse School of Theater, Whitman College and the College of the Puget Sound.
She was a member of the local Mountaineers. She worked at Paradise Inn on Mount Rainier during college summers where she fell an love with Stephen Truselo. They were married
on June 17, 1941. They lived in the cottage on Paradise Cove and in Hawaii.
Her lifelong interests included drawing, painting, natural history, dancing, folk music, dogs and cats.
She led a contemplative life and was admired by those who knew her for her deliberate, simple lifestyle and incredible perseverance.
Her daughters Joan and Gail died earlier.
Survivors include her husband Stephen.
Dickinson, Margaret Saturday, 22 Mar 2003
Margaret V. Dickinson died March 22, 2003.
She was born Nov. 16, 1913,
She enjoyed travel, flowers, birds and cats and especially spending time with family and friends.
She had spent many years volunteering at the Bow Lake Garden Club and with the Group Health Ladies Auxiliary.
Her mother Margaret Morrow, father Nathaniel Dobbins, husband Victor Gibbons, brothers Pete and Ben Dobbins, and brother-in-law Al Windsor all died earlier.
Survivors include her sister Betty Windsor of Burien, sister-in-laws Vickie Dobbins of Port Orchard and Naoma Dobbins of Normandy Park, friend Bob Schroedel of Normandy Park, daughter Shannon Sudduth of Vashon Island, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren, loving nephew, nieces, and cousins.
A private family service will at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 27, at Forest Lawn in West Seattle.
Hudis, Mary E. "Liz" Thursday, 20 Mar 2003
Mary E. “Liz” Hudis of Vashon Island, died March 20, 2003, at the Vashon Community Care Center. She was 85 years old.
She was born August 5, 1917, in Missoula, Mont.
Survivors include a daughter, Alanna Hudis of Vashon.
Coulter, Vera LaVonne Copeland "Buzzy" Wednesday, 19 Mar 2003
Vera LaVonne Copeland Coulter of Vashon, known to many as “Buzzy, ” died March 19, 2003. She was 86 years old.
She was born in 1916 in Montgomery County, Iowa, to Charles and Delia Copeland and was the fourth of eight children.
While living in Iowa, she met John Coulter and they married
April 23, 1933. They raised two daughters, Sondra Kay and Deborah Jonette.
Mrs. Coulter will be remembered as a devoted wife and mother relocating to California, Nevada, and finally Vashon though in her heart “home” was always Red Oak. For the past five years, she lived at the Vashon Community Care Center.
In her earlier years she enjoyed many interests including gardening, playing cards and cooking for family gatherings. She was an avid sports fan, her favorite being professional baseball.
Her father, mother, husband, sisters Dorothy Gertrude, Lorene Evaline, Maxine Martha and brother Wayne LaVerne all died earlier.
Survivors include her sister Carmon Louise, her brothers Marion Wesley and Charles Duane, and daughters Sondra Gulledge, and Deborah Richards and their families, including seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, all living in the Northwest, and many other relatives and friends.
A memorial service will be held at the home of her daughter and son-in-law at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5.
Friends who wish to remember her may send donations in her name to the Vashon Community Care center, 15333 Vashon Highway S.W. Vashon Island, Wash. 98070.
More, Donald Eugene Monday, 17 Mar 2003
Donald Eugene More, who lived on Vashon Island, died March 17, 2003, in Tacoma. He was 80 years old.
He was born in Seattle on June 4, 1922, the son of Catherine and Luther More.
Mr. More was a Mason, a member of the Ballard Elks and the Vashon Island Golf & Country Club. He was an avid golfer and card player. He also enjoyed Keno at any casino where he could find a game.
He was raised in Seattle but spent all of his summers at his summer home on Vashon.
For most of his working life, he was with the Seattle Engineering Department. He retired in 1976 and, with his wife Nancy Elizabeth, moved to Vashon.
After her death in 1986, he continued to live on Vashon during the summers and spent winters in Sun City, Ariz. The past couple of years he had been living at the Weatherly Inn, an assisted living facility in Tacoma.
Survivors include his two sons, Thomas L. More of Anacortes and Michael J. More of Vashon, five grandchildren, six great grandchildren and close friend and companion Betty Dybdro.
At his request, there will be no funeral, but a celebration of his life is being planned for family and friends at a later date.
Smith, Joyce Corry Tuesday, 09 Sep 2003
Joyce Corry Smith, 71
Joyce Corry Smith died Sept. 9, 2002, on Vashon Island in her sleep. She was 71 years old.
Mrs. Smith was born June 14, 1932, and live most of her life in Weddington, N.C.
She grew up in Oakman, Ala., one of seven children. She received her nursing degree at the University of Alabama and her master’s at the University of Washington. She was working at the Veteran’s Hospital in Birmingham when she was set up on a blind date with her future husband. They settled in North Carolina.
In the big house where she and her husband raised five children, she welcomed everyone. She was happiest sitting at the table surrounded by food, family, friends and unexpected guests, telling and listening to stories and laughing until she cried. Friends say you weren’t just her friend, but a new family member and she let people know it with a hug every time she saw her new friends.
Survivors include her husband of 43 years, Dr. J. Roderick Smith, sons Rod Smith Jr., Michael Smith, Sam Smith, and Jonathan Smith, daughter Sally Smith Aichele, granddaughter Sarah Hager, grandson Matt Smith, granddaughter Anna Smith and grandson William Aichele.
A memorial service was Sunday at the Weddington United Methodist Church.
The family asks that donations be made to either the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation at 7910 Woodmont Ave. Suite 1050, Bethesda, Md., 20814, the American Heart Association National Center/Women and Cardiovascular Disease at 7272 Greenville Ave., Dallas, Texas, 75231, or the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease/Woman Heart at 818 18th St. N.W. Suite 730, Washington D.C. 20006.
Smith, Joyce Corry Tuesday, 09 Sep 2003
McEntire, Betty Jo Wednesday, 23 Jul 2003
Betty Jo McEntire, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, died peacefully in Edmonds, Wash., on July 23, 2003, with her family at her side. She was 71 years old.
She was born Sept. 11, 1931, in Seattle to Edward and Gladys LaSpronce.
Betty grew up in West Seattle, graduated from West Seattle High School and earned a degree in interior design from Cornish Institute.
She married
Melvin McEntire on Aug. 8, 1953; they resided in West Seattle until moving their family to Vashon in 1968.
Her father, mother and various aunts and uncles died earlier.
Survivors include her husband Melvin, son Michael and his wife Cind) McEntire, daughter Patty and her husband Scott Noble and her grandchildren Erin and Bryan McEntire and Nick and Katie Noble.
She was buried at Vashon Island cemetery on Saturday, July 26, after graveside service.
Mann, Janet A. Monday, 21 Jul 2003
Janet A. Mann died in her sleep at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Monica and Douglas Pellegrini, on July 21, 2003, after a three and a half year battle with colon cancer. Petra Mann, her oldest daughter, was also present. She was 66 years old.
Mrs. Mann was born June 19, 1937, in Seattle. She spent most of her childhood growing up on Alki Beach in Seattle. She graduated from Lake Oswego High School, in Oregon. Shortly thereafter she joined the Navy and was medically retired after three years. She then married
and resided on Vashon Island with her husband and three children. She moved to Seattle in the mid 1970s and returned to school to get her degree in dental hygiene. She worked as a dental hygienist until Feb. 3, 2003.
Janet loved the Puget Sound area and usually lived near the water. She also loved the Seattle rain and was always the first one to welcome it. Janet had many interests, including traveling with friends and family and making quilts with her quilt club, “The Loose Threads.”
She also loved to read and belonged to a book club with some of her closest friends.
Survivors include her two daughters Petra Mann and Monica Pellegrini of Vashon Island, her sister Joan Durbin of Seattle, her aunt Francis Gerlach of Puyallup, her niece Donna Ryan of Ketchikan, Alaska, and her ex-husband and friend Harold Mann.
A son, Mark Mann, died earlier.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hospice Services of Providence Hospital.
Ackerman, Mary Louise Cox Saturday, 19 Jul 2003
Mary Louise Cox Ackerman died July 19, 2003, at her long time residence of Horizon House in Seattle. She was 89 years old.
Mrs. Ackerman was born Sept. 5, 1903, on a family homestead in Guthrie, Okla. Following graduation from Skiatook High School in 1922, the family moved to southern California where she graduated from the Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Arcadia in 1927. She worked there as a private duty nurse.
She was commissioned in the Army Nurse Corps in WWII and served in Utah and Oklahoma, before shipping overseas to serve in Okinawa and Japan, returning to the Seattle area after the war. She was a member of the Army Reserve/50th General Hospital Unit at Ft. Lewis for many years, retiring with the commission of Major.
She lived and worked in Seattle as an office nurse for her late husband Dr. Frederick F. Ackerman, who specialized in ophthalmology, until his retirement. They spent much time at Ackerman Acre, their home on Vashon Island.
Mrs. Ackerman will be remembered for her accomplishments in knitting for the whole family, tailoring her own clothes, loving a series of cats in her life and her joy of gardening at the Acre and mostly her pleasure in being a grandmother.
She was known in the family for always having an appropriate proverb to apply to any situation.
Her parents, husband, sisters Beth and Helen, and brother Nathan all died earlier.
Survivors include nieces Mary McDougal, Sara Gustafson, and Anna Ellison of California and Jeanne Ann Blue of Lake Stevens, and step-daughter Constance Clarke of Vashon Island, four grandchildren and five great-grandsons.
She was pleased to be the first of three generations of nurses in the family. She would say that “Life was often hard work, but a purring cat and laughing children made it all worthwhile.” Louise’s family says that “Her love for us and our love for her will continue forever.”
Her ashes were inurned in the memorial garden at Church of the Holy Spirit on Vashon Island.
Peck, Chester "John" Sunday, 13 Jul 2003
Chester John Peck died July 13, 2003, on Vashon Island. He was 83 years old.
He was born Sept. 13, 1919, in Yakima, Wash., to Roscoe and Violet Rose Peck.
John grew up in the Northwest and Canada, attended Yakima High School through the 10th grade and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. He manned a lookout post and was on fire patrol on Mt. Adams and elsewhere in Washington during his service with the CCC.
In 1941 he moved to Oakland, Calif. He married
Patricia Gentry on Jan. 9, 1942, in a double wedding ceremony with Edith Peck, his sister, and his closest friend Donald Forbes Sr.
During World War II, he received parachute packing training in San Diego. He was stationed in the Army Air Corps base at Lemore Field in California, where he rose to the position of superintendent of the Parachute Packing, Canvas and Leather Department. He was transferred to the Santa Maria Army Air Corps base in Santa Maria, Calif.
After World War ll, John and his wife owned and operated a service station in Pismo Beach, Calif., for five years. In 1950 they moved to San Diego, where Mr. Peck managed a large full service station, car rental agency and towing service for 20 years.
In 1973 he was forced into early retirement due to throat cancer. After his larynx was removed he learned to speak again using the esophageal speech method. He and his wife moved to Beaverton, Ore., when she retired to be close to his brother Harold and his family.
Shortly after their move, his wife died, and the next year he moved to Vashon, where he lived for the past 18 years.
Mr. Peck was active in the Vashon Maury Island Senior Center, where he served as a member and co-president of the board. He ran the Saturday night bingo games for 10 years and drove the center’s van for more than 10 years, belonged to the property management committee and frequently worked in the kitchen washing dishes and serving meals. He was known for grilling the best hot dogs on Vashon.
Mr. Peck was also a member of the Grange, where he served as treasurer and in many other capacities. He received the Pomona Grange “Man of the Year” award in 2000. He received other honors including the Volunteer of the Year from King County Senior Services and an award from the American Association of Retired People for community service.
Many seniors are grateful for the assistance they received from him over the past 18 years.
Everyone who knew John loved him, his friends and family say. He was known as a selfless man, a “gentleman’s gentleman, ” who always sought to be of service to others. He loved people and always found the best in everyone he knew. He exuded optimism and a happy “can do” attitude towards life.
Survivors include Luella Lodahl, his loving companion of the last 18 years; his daughter Nancy Reynolds of Kennewick, Wash.; his granddaughter Patricia Reynolds and two great grand children, Jessica and Austin of Pullman, Wash., his sister Edith Wydra of San Diego; his brother Harold Peck of Beaverton, Ore., and many nieces and nephews. Mr. Peck also enjoyed a loving relationship with Luella’s children, Loretta Hoyt, Karen Hoffman, Victor Lodahl and Drew Lodahl.
His wife, parents and brother Vernon Peck died earlier.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Vashon Maury Island Senior Center or the Vashon Lutheran Church.
