On May 8, 2012, our beloved Mother and friend, Marie Eileen Criscuola Worthington, died peacefully in her sleep while at home in Quilcene, Wash. Our mom was born in Springfield, Ohio in 1919 but, with her parents Robert and Bernice Miller, soon moved to Coupeville where her two sisters Betty and Patty were born. Coupeville held many dear memories for her. After attending Western Washington University (then Bellingham Normal) she married a commercial fisherman, Mike Criscuola. and they raised four children all in the same Coupeville house.
Daughter Victoria (Vicky) lives in Seattle with husband Keith Hutchings; son Noel lives in Port Townsend; son Nick lives in Bellingham with wife Judy; and son Michael Robert died eight years ago but is survived by wife Muriel of Bellingham. Eight grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren were our mom’s greatest joy. Grandson, Jason, died in 1979, but he always had a special place in her heart.
After our father’s death in 1972 our mom was on an REI sponsored hike in Norway where she met Robert Worthington of Quilcene, Wash. They married in 1974 and had many adventures together including a two week horseback trek in the Olympics. She continued to live in Quilcene after Robert’s death and she became an important part of the local community. Donating land for the historical museum and endowing a horticulture program in the Quilcene schools were just two of her many community gifts.
Other interests were writing, (she wrote a weekly column for this very newspaper back in the ‘50s and early ‘60s), gardening, birding, quilting, knitting, reading, and especially world travel, crossword puzzles and bridge.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 2, at 1 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Quilcene. Memorials may be made to the Hospice /foundation of Jefferson County Healthcare, 2500 West Sims Way, Suite 300, Port Townsend, WA; Quilcene schools garden program, K-12; or the Quilcene Historical Museum, Worthington Park Project, Quilcene, WA.
Special thanks go to two of our mother’s caregivers, Lynn Schafer and Susan Lyons, for all their special care which enabled our mom to remain in her own home until her passing.
