Whatcom County, Washington Obituary Collection

GenealogyBuff.com - Whatcom County, Washington Obituary Collection - 91

Posted By: GenealogyBuff.com
Date: Tuesday, 5 December 2017, at 2:51 p.m.

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Karen Lore Wilkerson
10/18/1954 - 11/23/2003

Karen Lore Wilkerson, age 49 of
Bellingham, born October 18,
1954 in North Hollywood, California to
Robert & Lore Wilkerson. She moved to
Whatcom County in 1974, where she has
lived since.
In Karen’s early years in Whatcom
County, she worked at the Chicken Farm
on Mosquito Lake Road, the Mushroom
Farm on Hwy. 9, Acme Café, Hungry Bear
Café, and delivered newspapers. Karen
was always independent and took care of
herself. She worked her way up in the
Marriott Corporation at Western
Washington University from cook to the
Director of Food Services for the
Ferndale School District. She was very
accomplished and won many awards in her
professional life.
Karen had a great love of the outdoors
and photography. She loved to swim and
sunbathe at the Nooksack River and was
always up for a day at the beach.
Music was a big part of her pleasure in
life. Karen loved to cook and was
known for her hospitality and her
generous nature. She was the
embodiment of love and compassion: the
most loyal friend, sister, and
daughter. Karen’s compassion led her
to participating in Big Sister/Little
Sister program.
Karen enjoyed cars and was very
mechanically inclined. She never
hesitated to pull out an instruction
manual to fix or program whatever
device she was working on. She loved
flowers and always marked special
occasions with a gift of a bouquet.
Karen is survived by her father Robert
Wilkerson of Mt. Vernon; mother Lore
Wilkerson of Laguna Wood, CA; brother
Earl Wilkerson of Orem, UT; and many
other relatives and close friends.
Karen touched the lives of everyone who
knew her. Her warmth and love will be
greatly missed. For her friends and
family, the hole left in our lives will
never be filled. She left us much too
early in life, but her memory will
always be honored and celebrated.
A visitation will be held on Friday,
November 28th at Westford Funeral Home
from 2 – 4 p.m. A Memorial Service
will be held at the Ferndale High
School Auditorium on Saturday, November
29th at 1:30 p.m.

Frances G Westre
11/30/1917 - 12/5/2003

Frances Westre, age 86 of Petersburg,
Alaska, born November 30, 1917 in
Bellingham to Raymond and Olive
(Barnett) Greene. Frances had a deep
love of nature and took advantage of
everything that Alaska had to offer.
Her greatest joy in life was her
grandchildren and great grandchildren,
to whom she was known as “G.G.”
Fran graduated from Fairhaven High
School in Bellingham and attended
college at what is now Western
Washington University.
She could and would do many different
things to assist and support her
family, from bookkeeping for her
husband's business to demonstrating
products in her daughter and son-in-
law's grocery store. She could fillet
a fish or shoot a moose. She often
helped a grandchild pick their first
blueberry.
She opened her home to young people
from logging camps that needed housing
to attend high school, and was an
unofficial 'foster mother' to many
others. The house became a meeting
place and feed stop for the friends of
her teenage children. She had an open
mind, allowing people to be what they
would, yet retained her own strict
sense of morality. Her code of ethics
was very strong, and she stood up for
what she believed in.
Her father instilled in her a love for
the outdoors, which she passed on to
her children. Very athletic, when
younger, she enjoyed sports and was a
Mariners fan, never missing a televised
game. At eleven years old, she passed
her lifeguard test and was the youngest
certificated lifeguard in the State of
Washington.
Her love of animals was intense and her
house was never without a cat or a dog.
She sorrowed deeply when one would pass on.
Although she lived in Alaska, she made
many trips to Bellingham to visit her
siblings and friends. She maintained
membership in the Mt. Baker Organ
Society, and Chapt. F., P.E.O.
Fran had an inquiring mind and read
widely to further her knowledge. A
train trip across Siberia became a
high-light in her life, especially when the
children gathered around her
to 'practice their English'.
A younger Fran served actively on the
Petersburg City Council, but remained
active to her politics until the end.
She loved staying at her waterfront
cabin, surrounded by her
grandchildren.
She chopped wood faster than three
children could carry and stack it.
In later years a visit to "G.G."
(great-grandmother) would find her knitting,
the T.V. tuned to CNN or Discovery
channel, and the smell of dehydrating
apples filling the house. She knit
hundreds of extraordinary afghans,
donating some to charity.
She was the anchor in life for her
family, and will be sorely missed by
friends.
Frances was preceded in passed away January 16,
2004. She was death by
grandfathers William Spyksma and Roger
Schmidt and great-grandfathers Ed
Schmidt and Frank White.
Memorials may be made to Seattle Cancer
Care Alliance, 825 Eastlake Ave East,
Seattle, WA 98109. Memorial Services
will be held at Christ the King Church
in Bellingham on Saturday, Jan. 24,
2004 at 2:00 PM.
Nicole will be missed by all of her
family and friends.

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