Wilma A. Foubert

She was born on March 4, 1924, in Rock Springs, Wyoming, to the late Joseph Hegedus (d. 1939) and Amelia (Kochis) Hegedus (d. 1977).

Wilma was predeceased by her sisters, Mary Viola (Hegedus) Duncan (d. 1996), and Winifred Josephine (Hegedus) Lorenzi (d. 2011).

She is survived by her five children, Philip Foubert of Brisbane, Australia; Jeanne Foubert of Redmond, WA; Janice (Foubert) Steinle, of Green Valley, AZ; Patricia (Foubert) Lefeber, of Monroe, WA; and Michele (Foubert) Krall, of Marysville, WA.

Wilma’s father, Joseph, born in Pueblo, Colorado, was educated in Czechoslovakia, learned to be a tailor, and survived his service as a soldier in World War I, before returning to the U.S. to work as a miner in Rock Springs. Her mother, Amelia, returned to university after the death of her husband in 1939, completed a teaching certificate, and taught elementary school for the rest of her working life.

Wilma lived through the Great Depression, an experience which taught her how to focus on the essentials. The attack on Pearl Harbor took place late in the same year she graduated from high school (1941), and she attended university during the crisis years of WWII. She recalled listening to the radio fireside chats of President Roosevelt during the war years.

Wilma graduated in May 1941 from Rock Springs High School, where she was Salutatorian of the Senior class, Yearbook Editor, and Class Treasurer.

Awarded a four-year academic scholarship, Wilma earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors from the College of Education, University of Wyoming (Laramie) in 1945.

After graduation, she obtained a teaching position at the high school in Green River, Wyoming, just 15 miles from her family home in Rock Springs.

On August 10, 1946, she married Valjean Foubert, of Issaquah, WA, a WWII veteran she had met previously at the University of Wyoming, and they made their home in Seattle, WA.

During the 1946-47 school year, Wilma taught math to returning veterans at Broadway High School on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Wilma and Val were eventually divorced in October 1968.

While her children were growing up, Wilma worked as Payroll Manager for the Rhodes Department Store chain, and when that company was acquired by Pay ‘n Save Corporation in 1965, she became Manager of the Pay ‘n Save Credit Union until her retirement in June 1986.

Wilma enjoyed what she termed ‘normal everyday living’ – completing the daily crossword puzzle with morning coffee; taking walks through her neighborhood, populated by trees and gardens; gardening in her yard, tending to roses, tomatoes, and strawberries; cooking and baking, especially chocolate chip cookies and banana bread; and decorating and lighting her home for the Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas holidays, when she hosted grandchildren for warm relaxing afternoons of movies, games, and NFL football.

On New Year’s Eve, she liked to serve a traditional Czech soup, ‘Kozara,’ based on a recipe ‘from the old country’ that she had inherited from her mother. She enjoyed dining in restaurants and there are many photos of her with a beer or an Amaretto Sour in her hand. She loved seafood, though in general she had the reputation of ‘eating like a bird’ – that is, sparingly.

Wilma was known for having a ‘green thumb’ and when she visited, she always left gardens and flowers in a more flourishing condition than when she had arrived. She nourished a blooming Christmas cactus for decades, was fond of fuscias, and loved the sagebrush of her native Wyoming. She also collected coins and stamps. She could sew very well and knitted decorative household crafts now highly prized by family members fortunate enough to have received one.

Wilma always loved watermelon, but in the last several months of her life she seemingly could not get enough of the thirst-slaking melon. ‘It tastes so good to me,’ she would exclaim, as her daughters teased her about her increasing consumption. Indeed watermelon was the last thing she ate, on her last evening.

Wilma was a devout Catholic Christian, regularly attending mass and supporting her nearby parish church, St Brendan’s, in Bothell, WA. She sent her children to Catholic parochial elementary schools and earned extra income to pay her son’s Jesuit high school tuition. She donated to Catholic missionary societies. While in Australia, she participated in a weekly Rosary prayer group.

Wilma also greatly enjoyed frequent travels. She made a yearly trip to Colorado to visit her daughter Janice and husband Bob Steinle, whom she also accompanied on holiday to Hawaii. She travelled throughout the United States visiting family members, taking part in the weddings of grandchildren, and attending family reunions.

From her late 80s into her mid-90s, Wilma made five trips to Brisbane, Australia, to visit her son Philippe and Linda, his longtime partner there. During her extended stays, she was welcomed and embraced by a new overseas family of friends.

Wilma put her heart and soul into being a loving mother and grandmother, and she cherished her relationships with her great grandchildren. Throughout her life, Wilma was unfailingly loving, kind, generous, and strongly supportive of each of her children, and she treasured her extended family. She was the beloved hub of the family network and an honored presence at large family holiday gatherings.

One thing of which everyone in the family is aware is that Wilma never wearied of talking about the weather. Another thing is that she never liked to stay on long distance telephone calls for very long at all -- unless you brought up something else about the weather!

And she had characteristic sayings. If anyone ever reported that they had over-slept, she would always say ‘Well, you must have needed the sleep.’ We never tired of hearing her examine the weather, and we are going to miss her reassuring reactions and her always cheerful personality.

Family and friends alike experienced Wilma as a person with a beautiful soul, a gentle presence with a lovely smile and a peaceful nature.

In the words of one: ‘We will always remember Wilma as a warm and loving woman who was interested in people and the world and was comfortable to be around. She will remain in our hearts forever.’

We celebrate her character and her long virtuous life, and her memory will forever be a blessing.

In addition to her children, Wilma is survived by eight grandchildren:

From Philippe Foubert: Juliane Geai Foubert (Nantes, France) and Amelia Foubert (Boston, MA). From Jeanne Foubert: Travis LeMieux (Redmond, WA). From Janice Steinle: Heather Sotallaro (Alexandria, VA) and Lea Mitchell (Tampa, FLA). From Patricia Lefeber: Laura Lefeber Bayles (Bothell, WA) and Scott Lefeber (Bothell, WA). From Michele Krall: Jared Krall (Anacortes, WA).

In addition to her grandchildren, Wilma’s descendants include nine great-grandchildren: Rose and Noah Geai Foubert (Juliane and Alex); Jackson, Hayden, and Dominic Sotallaro (Heather and Mark); Max Mitchell (Lea and Anthony); Shawn and Ryan Lefeber (Scott and Lisa); and Kristi Krall (Michelle and Jared).

A funeral mass will be held at 12.30 PM on Thursday, November 3rd, 2022, at St. Brendan’s Catholic Church, 10100 NE 192nd, Bothell 98011, WA.

The mass will be streamed online from the St Brendan Catholic Church Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stbrendancatholicbothell

A memorial website will be launched on November 3, 2022, at https://www.wilmafoubert.com

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Boys Town, or Catholic Community Services.