Lemley Chapel
Serving Sedro-Woolley &
All of Skagit County Since 1935
1008 Third Street
Sedro-Woolley, WA
360-855-1288
www.LemleyChapel.com
Martha H. Atwood Memorial
Martha H. Atwood Memorial

Martha H. Atwood

Martha H. Atwood

Tuesday, October 4th, 2005

Martha Atwood, 84, a Burlington resident passed away on Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at the Life Care Center of Skagit Valley in Sedro-Woolley.
Martha was born in Jackson, Michigan on June 2, 1921, to parents Allen Raymond Hamilton, and Jessica Violet Chapman Hamilton. Martha’s family moved from Michigan to Washington State during the Great Depression in the early thirties.
Martha was educated in western Washington public schools and graduated from Queen Anne High School in 1938. She attended Willamette University, Skagit Valley College, and later received her BA in Education from Western Washington University.
She met the love of her life, William Atwood, over a pickle barrel at the general store in Sheridan, Oregon in the fall of 1939. Martha and William were married on June 14, 1941 in Seattle, Washington. They settled in Skagit County and developed a ‘have more plan’ on a 40 acre farm in Bayview. Bill and Martha celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary in June.
Martha struck a happy balance between nurturing and high expectations for her brood of seven. Saturday morning duty rosters were gently reinforced with excursions to the back forty for blackberries where she intoned, ‘Don’t come back until the pail is full.’
Martha had a wanderlust and sense of adventure that lasted her whole life. At age 16, she undertook to skate down the counterbalance on the south face of Queen Ann Hill. She jumped the curbs on the way down, and managed to make the right hand corner onto Roy Street at the bottom before she fell and skinned her knees. Bill and Martha enjoyed traveling and eventually made it to all fifty states. They undertook a gourmet food odyssey of the country in 2003. Their itinerary included 30 restaurant destinations gleaned from the food channel and other sources. Most recently, Bill and Martha had planned a trip to the southwest. In an aside to one of her daughters, she whispered, ‘Don’t tell your father, but we’re going to check out New Orleans, too!’
An angioplasty with a purple balloon in 2000 introduced Martha to the Heart Healthy Class at United General Hospital. There she met a wonderful group of individuals who provided her with fun and support.
Martha was preceded in death by her sister, Georgia Clefton; brothers-in-law Frank Caldwell, Rod Clefton, Don Atwood, and Chuck Coffland. Also preceding her were sons-in-law John Blau and Bill Hughes.
She is survived by her loving husband, William at the family home in Burlington. She is also survived by her children Sydney Chip Logsdon of Mount Vernon, Julia Hughes of Salem, Oregon, Susanne Blau, Joan Loyd Frazier, and Barbara Greg Nelson all of Burlington, Richard Molly Atwood of Wickenburg, Arizona, and Tom Helen Chao Atwood of San Diego, California. Her grandchildren, Louise Bill Johnson of Mount Vernon, Denise Alan Campbell of Sedro Woolley, Tamra Karen Parker-Jackson of Scapoose, Oregon, Kevin Lisa Parker of McMinnville, Oregon, Peter Gregory Anne Ormsby of Tacoma, Karl Calli Anne Stark Blau of Anacortes, Edwin Corinna Roberts Blau of Clear Lake, Alexander Blau of Concrete, Jennifer Ben MacKay and Bethany Justin Pendergrast all of Burlington, Kevin, Carly, and Kelly Atwood of Phoenix, Arizona, Amy Seth Nelson of Las Cruces, NM, David Nelson of Sayville, NY, Scott Lizzie Albright Nelson of Bellingham, and Austin, Alex, and Ariel Atwood of San Diego, California. Also great-grandchildren, Amanda Johnson, Jared Campbell, Robert Bradford, Nicholas McMurtry, Aiden, Shel and Ciel Blau, Eleanor Ormsby and Kennady, Kaelyn, and Brennan MacKay. Other survivors include her sisters, Elizabeth Caldwell of Seattle and Catherine Jack Bigford of Kent; brother-in-law Earl Jane Atwood of Carson; 2 sisters-in-law, Tina Atwood of Vancouver, WA, and Barbara Coffland of Mount Lake Terrace. Also surviving are numerous nieces and nephews and dear friends.
Martha was diagnosed with cancer just three short weeks ago. She lived her last three weeks with grace and dignity, surrounded by her loving family. Her family takes comfort in the fact of her eternal spirit and the legacy that she has left behind in each of us.
There will be a celebration of Martha’s life at noon on Saturday, October 8, 2005 at McIntyre Hall in Mount Vernon, WA. Memorials in Martha’s name may be made to the Heart Healthy Program at United General Hospital in care of Mark Pearson. Cremation arrangements under the direction of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley.