Glenna Bernice Kirkpatick

Bernice Kirkpatrick left this world to join the Lord on April 6. Here was an admirable woman, whose loving heart, strength, and enthusiasm for life made her a favorite, not only of immediate family, but of a wide circle of friends gained through the years.

Glenna Bernice was born February 16, 1912 at Vaughn Bay, WA on the Kitsap Peninsula to Daisy and William Kinkaid. Her early years were lived in frontier conditions. Yet the solitude and hardships of Vaughn were overcome early on by an intrepid spirit and family love, which she carried forever after. Bernice was especially close to her late brother Carroll ?Quacky?. He led the young girl on many adventures and loyally included her in his circle of friends. Their mutual affection and sense of humor lasted to the very end. Studious and well-read, Bernice finished Vaughn High School early, attending UPS in Tacoma thereafter.

Bernice and Dean Eugene Kirkpatrick married in 1933, moving to W. Seattle. They had three daughters, Patricia, Dolores, and Cheryl. At the start of WW2, Dean joined the Navy, Bernice and the girls moved back to Vaughn Bay. After the war they settled on Echo Lake in northwest Seattle. Here Bernice and Dean provided an idyllic setting for the daughters? early lives, and later, for family gatherings, where daughters? families played, swam and fished together. Bernice was famous among her young grandsons for her unforgettable ?fishing breakfast? that was a yearly opening-day ritual. Bernice cooked expertly and often sang as she did.

Bernice was widowed suddenly by the death of Dean in 1969, but he remained the love of her life until death. Despite moving from Echo Lake, she persisted in her longtime employ at the Sears and Roebuck?s accounting department, retiring in 1975. She lived at several sites in close proximity to Echo, travelling worldwide in retirement with the Ed Hume tours. Yet her steady presence as loving grandparent was never better shown in these years than during extended family getaways to ?Paul?s Cabin? a rustic, wooded site near Seabeck, at which the families enjoyed her food, card games, and tales of early Vaughn, under lantern light. Her amiable, enthusiastic style won over many in her later years, first at Lake House ironically, built over the longtime family residence at Echo Lake, and then at Crista Nursing Center. At Crista she was chosen resident?s representative, becoming loved and admired by administration, tenants, and care-giving staff. She in turn loved them as if her own. She still played a galvanizing role for her own extended family, providing support and wisdom even well into her final years. Bernice, Mom, Grams?there will never be another like you! You ?came to the garden alone,? but you leave with many whose lives were forever touched by your kind, loving heart. We will always miss you, and are grateful for the memories.

Her final resting place is at Evergreen-Washelli next to Dean. Private memorial services at a later date at Crista.