Mom was born in Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle and later moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon with her Mom and Dad where she grew up. She took full advantage of the lake she loved and cherished the many close friends she had there. As a teenager, she moved back to Seattle and attended Helen Bush Boarding School which she loved. Not living with her mother as a teenager was not so bad either! She told the story of when the school burned down (fortunately not the boarding house!) and what a blessing that was as her grade records all burned too! This allowed her to get into Whitman College in Walla Walla but she found college was not really her thing. During the summers she would spend time in Newport, Oregon with family where she met Martin (and Ernie) Guchee, two identical twins. Martin and Ernie both ran fishing charters out of Newport and Mom would go out with them, never really knowing which one she was with! She married Martin, she thinks, who was studying at Oregon State University in Corvallis.
Mom and Dad moved to Portland after Dad graduated and Dad worked as an engineer for the Port of Portland. Twelve months and a few days after the wedding, Jane was born. Mom enjoyed saying “fortunately, Jane arrived late!” as her mother would NOT have been pleased if she had arrived early! Two years later Bob was born. This was the happiest time of Mom’s life. She was married to a wonderful man, in love, and loved being a full-time Mom. Dad’s job in Portland really did not suit him so around 1956 they moved to Seattle and Dad went to work for Boeing.
The family spent many weekends camping in the mountains, often up the Little Naches Drainage on the American River. It was always the four of us, two large dogs, and camping equipment jammed into a station-wagon and we loved every minute of it. Mom and Dad would fish, and Mom loved eating trout. She gave me hell for always releasing the trout I catch, “such a waste,” she would say!
In 1960 the lights went out on Boeing in Seattle and Mom and Dad moved to Fresno, California.
Mom and Dad took up golf together and Mom really shined. She would play 3-4 times a week with her ladies’ group and was very proud to have made a hole-in-one! She loved golf her entire life and Tiger Woods was her star. She also loved her Fresno State Bulldog basketball team and enjoyed season tickets for years. Mom volunteered for years at hospital gift shops in Fresno and Yakima. When a new hospital was built in Fresno, Mom was the manager of the new gift shop and helped get it going.
In 1999 Mom made the great decision to move to Yakima. Both her kids and four grandkids were here, and she wanted to be closer to us. She soon began making new friends, mainly through Bridge groups and her gift shop work at the hospital.
Mom became quite notorious at her Bridge groups! Everyone I would run into would ask if Toni was my Mom and comment that she was an excellent Bridge player and often won. I always ribbed her that I was going to have to start claiming her winnings when I did her taxes!
You could call Mom a “clothes horse.” She loved dressing nicely and was always complimented for her taste in clothes right down to the matching shoes, of course! She often could not decide which color was best, so her answer was to have one in every color. Except black!
Mom loved to cook and bake. She enjoyed both immensely, both for the pleasure of the task AND as she often said: “I just love to eat!”
Mom is survived by her son Bob (Kelle) and daughter, Jane Fleshman, grandkids Meg (Chase) Harmon, Matt Guchee, Stephanie (Dan) Kinley and Kevin (Liz) Fleshman, and great-grandkids Kaitlyn and Evan Kinley, Ely and Ally Fleshman. We will all miss her. Until we meet again, Mom.
A family celebration of life was held on Monday, May 25th in Yakima at the home of Bob and Kelle by the lake… it seemed most fitting.
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