Evelyn J. Ginnold

Evelyn Justine Ginnold passed away peacefully on August 30, 2011. She would have been 100 years old on September 19, 2011. Her father, Floyd Huffman, was the lead man on the Union Pacific 'gandy dancer' crew and Evelyn was born near Spokane in the crew caboose on a rail siding in Mica, WA, on September 19, 1911.

Evelyn's family was hard-working but poor. Floyd trained and became a UP engineer. Evelyn's mother, Elsie, was an avid Democrat and activist. To help the family, as a teenager, Evelyn was a night Morse code operator for Western Union. She graduated from North Central High School in 1928, with a B average, at a time when less than 1 in 5 young women even went to high school. After high school, she learned shorthand and trained on the Comptometer, a forerunner of the computer for office functions.

In the 1932 Democratic landslide, she went to Olympia and worked for Governor Martin, becoming one of his three executive secretaries, and later became the secretary to the Fish and Game Commission. In 1936, Evelyn met the love of her life, Roy Ginnold, and they married soon after. The depression worsened and they struggled, moving to several towns on the coast where Roy sought work. The couple had their children, Richard Edward, in 1937, and Glenda Anne, in 1940. Also in 1940, they moved to Evelyn's home town, Spokane, where they lived the rest of their lives. Roy became a Spokane policeman in 1940 and Evelyn became a valued office employee. Evelyn and Roy were together until his death in 1995. Evelyn's daughter and best friend, Glenda, was then tragically killed in a car accident 6 months after Roy's death.

Through her life, Evelyn Ginnold had many trials. Her character and loving nature made her strong and she was an inspiration to all. Evelyn was a kind, gentle and giving person whose sense of humor and positive attitude stayed with her until the end. As a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Evelyn was also ready for fun and new experiences and made everyone feel special. The Oien and Ginnold families have been greatly enriched by Evelyn's example and will sorely miss her.

Evelyn lived in Northpoint Retirement Center for the last 6 years. Her surviving families are extremely grateful for the well run facility and the loving and competent care she has received. Not only the caregiving personnel, but the activities staff, Elaine and Jill, and the entire kitchen and cleaning staff have an ethic of friendly service which made her last, difficult years much more pleasant. After an injury, Evelyn moved to Arbor House for more intensive care. Our families join in praising the special attention and care she got from her loving caregivers.

Evelyn is survived by her son in law, Gerold Oien, her son Richard Ginnold, five grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at Hazen Jaeger Funeral Home, 1306 N. Monroe in Spokane on Wednesday, September 7 at 2:00PM. A reception follows the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her honor to Lilac Services for the Blind (http://www. lilacblind.org).