Laura Marie Muzzall passed away Aug. 29, 2009. She was born Oct. 22, 1915, in Everett, and moved with her parents to Whidbey Island by the time she was 4-years-old. She was the eldest of six children born to Lyle Muzzall and Edna Zimmerman Muzzall, all raised on the family farm on Scenic Heights Road in Oak Harbor.

Laura left to be married to Herman Vanderbeek in September of 1935 in Holland, Mich. She and her family returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1951 and lived in Hillsboro, Ore., until 1973 when they returned home to Whidbey Island and the family farm.

She was active throughout her life in the League of Women Voters, Presbyterian Church and Whidbey Weavers Guild as a spinner, dyer and knitter. In each of her pursuits she was quickly asked to assume further responsibility and accomplished this always with characteristic ease and grace. She was a lifelong learner and natural teacher, instilling in her children and grandchildren a love of the outdoors, the names of plants and animals, and respect for all living things. She always lived in the future and hoped for only the best for all and expected that of herself and her children.

She and Herman had three children: J.T. “Tom,” David Loers and Susan Eleanor Vanderbeek; they produced seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She was a loving mother and an adoring grandmother whose grandchildren were her eyes to the world. Her great-grandchildren were a constant source of entertainment and amazement. She was most recently preceded in death by her brother Robert Muzzall and his wife Evelyn of Oak Harbor and her beloved sister Eleanor Bolesta of Tule Lake, Calif. Her husband Herman preceded her in death in 1981 and died at home in the same place in front of the picture window with a view of Penn Cove and the birds they loved to watch together.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Laura’s name to Friends of Home Health and Hospice at Whidbey General Hospital or the Endowment and Scholarship Fund of the Whidbey Presbyterian Church.