Carmen Joanne Tillman

of Seattle, WA, passed away peacefully on July 28, 2026, surrounded by her children. She was a cherished wife, mother, auntie, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. Carmen was born in Seattle, WA on August 21, 1933, to Mack and Elvina Delma. She grew up in the Filipino community among family and friends and was taught how to cook delicious Filipino food by her Norwegian mother.

She graduated from Garfield High School in 1951 where she developed her great love of music, especially jazz. One of her most exciting events during her graduating year was being able to see Billie Holiday perform live. A couple of years later, she met her first husband, Paul Togawa, a jazz musician who was introduced to her by her childhood friend, Quincy Jones.

Carmen and Paul moved to Los Angeles, where they had 3 children, Paula, Teri and Christopher. Carmen and her kids moved back to Seattle in 1964 and she divorced Paul shortly afterwards.

Within a couple of years, she met the love of her life, Johnny Tillman, with whom she had one daughter, Carlene, who was born on Johnny’s favorite holiday, the 4th of July. Carmen and Johnny had 35 wonderfully happy years together until his passing in 2001.

Carmen’s greatest love was children, and it showed. She was absolutely adored by all the children in her family, and most recently, when her young great grandchildren were asked what they would like to do, their answer was always, “Go see GG!”.

She was quite artistic, especially enjoyed painting, and did many an art project with the kids over the decades, much to their delight. She baked the yummiest cookies and was also an avid jigsaw puzzler. We always had to turn to her for help when attempting to fit the final pieces of our annual Christmas cookie puzzle together.

She had a delightful sense of humor, fast and witty and was the queen of the eye roll. Even when she was unable to vocalize freely during the last two years, she still managed to be hilariously funny and we all shared many, many laughs together.

Carmen’s Christian faith was a great source of strength for her. She was so beloved by so many people, and we will always keep her in our hearts.

We would like to express our deepest gratitude towards Hattie Williams, Mom’s devoted private caregiver extraordinaire for the past 8 years. Hattie was not only Mom’s caregiver but was also one of her best friends. Hattie and her daughters will always be a part of our family.

Carmen was preceded in death by her siblings Mack Jr., Delores, Lorita, David, Nadine and Valerie. She is survived by her cousin, Darlene Naranjo, her children Paula Togawa (Robert), Teri Togawa, Christopher Togawa (Sarah) and Carlene Brown (Jeff); granddaughters Kayla (Trent) Atkins (children: Rhett, Blakely & Reed), Amanda (Kevin) Brown (children: Parker & Leo), and Meagan (Rory) Holland (children: Marley & baby to be); and many nieces and nephews. We love you, Mom!