Marie Radford Wolthausen died peacefully at Cottage in the Meadow on March 10, 2018. She was born on February 28, 1922 in Brookins, South Dakota. Marie was the oldest of three children. Her family lived in North Dakota during most of her childhood and she began school in a one room school house in Marion, North Dakota. When Marie was in high school, her family moved to Washington State where she attended and graduated from Cowiche High School. She went on to take business classes and met and married Jack Radford on December 24, 1941 in Bremerton, Washington. Marie & Jack had two daughters, Barbara Radford Purdom and Donna Radford Endres (deceased). They raised their family in Tieton, Washington where they owned and operated the local Serve U Market for 30 years. Jack passed away in 1987 after 46 years of marriage.
Marie was very involved in her community. She volunteered extensively along with her husband Jack for the Lion’s Sight Foundation, publishing and mailing the Sight Foundation’s newsletter The Cornea. Marie volunteered at the Tieton Food Bank in the early 90’s and then was elected to the Tieton City Council. She was also a devout Catholic, serving as the treasurer of St. Peter’s Altar Society in Cowiche, Washington from the late 1980’s to 2014. She also celebrated her love of music by singing in the choir at St. Peter’s for 15 years. Marie was very creative. She was an avid seamstress and enjoyed reading and writing. She loved to paint and took many painting classes throughout her life. She also enjoyed creating stained glass and painting ceramics.
In May of 1991 Marie married Del Wolthausen (deceased) also of Tieton and went to live on his apple ranch just outside of Tieton, Washington. Del & Marie were married for 25 years during which they enjoyed making a home together, caring for their many cats and spending time with Marie’s children and grandchildren.
Marie was special to her family as well as many who knew her over her 96 years. She was a bright, strong woman who remained sharp until her death. She made an important contribution to her family and the community in which she lived. She will be remembered with much love.
Marie is preceded in death by Jack Radford, her daughter Donna Radford, her sister Rosella Campbell, her grandson Matt Purdom and her husband Del Wolthausen. She is survived by her daughter Barbara Purdom, son in law C.T. Purdom, nephew Pat Campbell, granddaughter Roxanne Kaufman, and great grandson Alexander Bigby and many nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to express a special thank you to Hillcrest Living Care and Cottage in the Meadow.
There will be a viewing and rosary on Sunday, March 18 from 1 pm to 6 pm at Langevin El Paraiso Funeral Home, followed by a funeral service on Monday, March 19 at 10 am also at the funeral home. Committal will be at Terrace Heights Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to the Yakima Valley Pet Rescue and Adoption Center at www.yvpr.org. To share a memory of Marie visit www.lepfuneralhome.com.
“Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.”
Leo Buscaglia
