Eileen Isabel Bear

Surrounded by family, Eileen Isabel Bear (84) passed away on January 15, 2016 due to advanced dementia. A long-time resident of West Seattle, Eileen was born in 1931 to John and Isabel Amer. As a young woman, she worked at the West Seattle movie theater. After graduating from West Seattle High School, she married Bernard Mitchell (deceased), with whom she had her three children: Sheila, Sharon, and David Mitchell. They divorced in 1979, and Eileen married Bill Bear, but their marriage was cut short due to his sudden death in 1981. A few years later, she met fellow Boeing employee Heinz Gehlhaar, and from their marriage in 1983 to her final breath they were side-by-side, travelling, skiing, and enjoying the view from their marvelous West Seattle home. Eileen worked at JC Penney for several years, and then started working at the Boeing Company in 1959? 1963 (?) and spent 35 years there. She carried her pride in her Boeing career over to her retirement, where she was a dedicated manager and volunteer with the Boeing retirement group, the Bluebills. Among the many recipients of her generosity were several local nursing homes, where she made sure no one was forgotten; the Hutch Kids school, where she made sure kids with cancer had DVDs, books, art supplies, and toys to help them through their treatment, and the White Center Food Bank and Salvation Army, who she supplied with food and other goodies from her many trips to Costco. She is survived by her husband, Heinz Gehlhaar; children Sheila Carter (Bob), Sharon Gangwish, and David Mitchell; grandchildren Marci Burden (Sean), Wesley Carter (Diana), Byron Gangwish (Jennifer), and Mitchell Gangwish (Kamille), and great-grandchildren Gus and Oliver, whom she loved to spoil, as well as many nieces, nephews, and extended family members, including Hans and Karl Gehlhaar, who she considered like sons. She was preceded in death by her brothers Jerry (Margie) Amer and Kenneth (Sue) Amer and son-in-law Tom Gangwish. Her family will remember her feisty personality, generous nature, and loving heart.