Muriel Wolff

Muriel Buzzelle was a depression baby born in Nampa, Idaho. While still a toddler, Muriel and her family moved to Portland, Oregon. It was in Portland that Muriel and her younger sister Betty were raised under modest means.

A tireless worker all her life, Muriel held jobs (some simultaneously) as a berry picker, maid at a boarding house, theatre and ice arena usher, wartime shipyard worker, and telephone operator. All this before she turned 18 years of age! By the time she graduated from high school in 1946, Muriel had saved enough money to attend Oregon State College in Corvallis, where she joined the Alpha Delta Pi sorority and as a freshman was named advertising editor for the school's daily newspaper.

In 1948, Muriel cut short her college education to marry professional musician Milton Wolff and become a housewife. In 1951, she gave birth to her daughter Debbie. Unfortunately, her husband's alcoholism created problems in Muriel's marriage, and that ultimately led to its break-up shortly after Muriel gave birth in 1961 to her son Jim.

These were very lean years for Muriel and her family, as they moved several times within Oregon and Washington. In 1963, they eventually settled for good in Seattle where Muriel found work with Pacific Northwest Bell, and Muriel started working her way up from the bottom ranks. In 1965, this progression allowed her to scrape up enough money to purchase her first house, a tiny one located in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood. Throughout the 60's, because it was really all either one of them could afford, she and best friend Carole Thul often took their children camping as their primary form of recreation on weekends and summer vacations.

In the 70's, Muriel's career advanced upward into management, where she ultimately became the head honcho for interior design and furnishings for telephone company buildings. Her career success allowed Muriel to purchase a nicer home in Bothell in 1973, and she continued to live there until her death.

In 1985, Muriel took early retirement from the phone company, which at that time was called US West. But retirement hardly meant just sitting back and talking it easy! Sure, she occasionally went on "strictly fun" vacations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. But, she remained the same energetic hard-working person she always had been, juggling roles as a babysitter for her grandchildren, master gardener, genealogist, and community activist. Muriel's management experience and natural leadership skills led her to being named president of many political, religious, and interest groups and societies.

One such group for which Muriel held the lead position was the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society. Muriel's passionate interests in genealogy and history took her and long-time friend Carole on several extended research trips around the country and Canada. Their longest "working vacation" lasted an entire year, as they drove cross country and ended up renting an apartment in the Philadelphia suburb of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

In Muriel's latter years, she slowed down a bit, but her energy level remained incredibly high for a woman her age. Then, about a year ago, a noticeable decline started to emerge. She often dismissed concerns expressed by her friends and family as a "longstanding sinus problem" or a "temporary case of the flu." In reality, Muriel knew she was seriously ill but hid it from everyone. Her family believes Muriel's motive was to spare her family additional pain and worry on top of a crisis they were already facing. Kathy, the wife of Muriel's son Jim, had been courageously battling cancer since April, 2012. Kathy ultimately succumbed to it a mere two months ago in October, 2013. It was the consummate act of love that Muriel suffered at home by herself rather than burden her family. Her family learned the extent of Muriel's health problems (kidneys, both lungs and heart) less than a week before she died. Her children had finally convinced Muriel to allow them to take her to the doctor, and she was immediately hospitalized in intensive care at Overlake Hospital. It was there, only a couple of days before she died, that Muriel smilingly disclosed her deception by saying to her son Jim: "I sure fooled you, didn't I?"

Muriel is survived by her daughter Debbie (John) Arima, son Jim Wolff, grandchildren Alex and Carlen Arima, niece Kathleen Parker and nephews Steven and Kurt Waller.

Muriel's family wishes to express appreciation to the fine doctors (in particular Group Health Dr. Heather Kelly Hedrick) and the entire staff (in particular the cardiac nursing team on East 2) at Overlake Medical Center for their exceptional compassionate care.