Carol Seibel

Carol Nadine Seibel passed away with grace and dignity, held by loving family, at the Cottage in the Meadow on Monday, January 19, 2015. Carol was born 71 years ago on March 17, 1943, in Pueblo, Colorado, to Harley and Thelma Helms. She had been a resident of Yakima for nearly 35 years. Upon hearing of her death, a great friend summed it up like this, “Her life was like a quilt, with bits and pieces, friends and family, joy and sorrow and all brought together with love and a big smile .... a masterpiece!”

Her father was a journeyman electrician and the family moved around the country before finally settling down on a farm at Rose Hill, Kansas, and later moved to nearby Wichita. It was there that Carol graduated from the Wesley Medical Center School of Nursing and met her future husband, Stu Seibel, on a blind date in January 1963. She always enjoyed singing, even being selected a vocalist for the road company of Rigoletto. Pursuing her medical career, she found her niche in the emergency room and striving to be among the best became a Board Certified Emergency Room Nurse.

Carol and Stu were married on August 24, 1963, in Wichita and made stops in Iowa, Colorado and Wyoming before coming to Yakima in 1981. Along the way, they had three children, Michael, Melinda and Stephani. At the same time, she continued to hone her skills in emergency medicine. She became the emergency department manager and director of the Wyoming Poison Center at DePaul Hospital in Cheyenne. After moving to Yakima, she served in the emergency room at Providence Medical Center for over 20 years, met the challenge of being a flight nurse and was a founding member of the Critical Incidence Stress Debriefing Team.

To unwind after work, Carol turned to her love of handicrafts, especially sewing. She enjoyed sewing for kids and grandkids, but most of all enjoyed quilting. After making sure her family would stay warm at night, she made quilts to give away and was so thrilled to hear they were appreciated. She was active in the Yakima Valley Quilters’ Guild and the Thursday Quilting Group at the Harman Center. When her sewing machine wasn’t close at hand, she tatted, which is an ancient way of making lace. While being treated for ovarian cancer at the North Star Lodge, fellow patients wanted to know where they could get a head cover like she had made. That was all it took for her to fire up her sewing machine and make over 200 covers which were given away anonymously to patients. Her family is so grateful that the Quilters’ Guild and Memorial volunteers offered to continue this project.

She is survived by her husband, Stuart of Yakima, and her three children: Michael of Seattle and children Katherine, Cameron and Peter; Melinda Jacobson Felton of Hempstead, MD, her husband, Paul III, and her sons Ethan and Aiden; and Stephani Torgerson of Redmond, WA, her husband Erik, and daughters Mari and Riley. Survivors also include an older sister, Melba Gorman, of Kansas City, MO.

Carol was predeceased by grandchildren Caleb Jacobson and twins, Harley and Hayden Jacobson, as well as her mother and father; sister, Doris, and brother, Howard.

A celebration of life will be held on February 14th at 1:00 pm at the Harman Center, 101 North 65th Avenue in Yakima. Carol has requested that in lieu of flowers a donation be made to the Memorial Hospital Foundation, North Star Lodge or the Cottage in the Meadow. She was so appreciative of the care she received from Dr. Tony Ha, the staff and volunteers, not only at the cancer center, but also at the hospice cottage.

As a tribute, her husband quoted the motto above the door to her room at the Cottage in the Meadow, “The Things You Do for Others.”