Lillian Mary Kochendorfer

At 2 years old she moved to Mississippi where her parents had purchased a farm. They lost the farm during the depression. She finished high school in Arkansas. After graduating from high school she moved to Illinois where she lived with friends for about a year and worked in a defense plant. When she was 19 she and her family moved to Yakima, where her mother purchased property and Lillian worked in an apple packing plant. She met her husband, Richard, in Yakima at a church event and they were married on June 4, 1946. Their first son, Robert, was born in Yakima late in 1947 and they moved to Seattle when Richard was hired by Boeing. They lived in the Madrona area of Seattle when their daughter, Mille' was born in 1949, and in the Northgate area when son, Kris, was born in 1952. In 1952 they bought a home in Lake City where they lived until moving to Mountlake Terrace in 1977. In 1990 Richard passed away after a failed kidney transplant. Lillian sold her home in 2003 and moved to Merrill Gardens in Mill Creek, WA, where she lived until just before her death.

Lillian worked at Boeing for 19 years as an expeditor. She and Richard enjoyed raising their family among friends at Mapleleaf Evangelical church in the Northgate area, where they attended for over 45 years. Each Sunday Lillian brought beautiful flower arrangements for the piano. Her other hobbies included garden club, gardening, sewing, square dancing and traveling in their RV.

In early 2006 Lillian was diagnosed with colon cancer, and had surgery. A few years later she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, had surgery and radiation therapy. It recurred in 2008 and she had chemotherapy. She did well with that until mid 2009, when it was no longer effective.

Lillian is preceded in death by husband Richard and sisters Ruth and Beatrice. She is survived by sons Robert of Renton and Kris (Jan) of Bothell, daughter Mille' (Tom) of Marysville, grandsons John and Keith Kochendorfer and Luke Giesecke, brother John Elder of Seattle and sister Pat Hollenbeck of Puyallup.