BERNA L. STOUT, 80, a Big Lake area resident passed away near her home on Tuesday March 4, 2003, the result of a tragic accident.
She was born on June 12, 1922 at Ehrlich, WA, south of Big Lake, the daughter of Adolph ‘Ed’ and Arland McInnis Stone and the granddaughter of early Skagit County Pioneers Charles & Marinda Elizabeth McInnis.
She was raised and attended grade school at Ehrlich and then attended and graduated from Sedro-Woolley High School. While growing up on the farm, Berna was active in 4-H and was leader of her 4-H cooking class. She attended WSU and then WWU where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree. During WW II she worked as an administration clerk at NAS Whidbey Island. She married Frank Lindgren in Bellingham and there they made their home. She retired after many years as a social worker for the WA State Department of Social & Health Services and later worked as part of the office staff at Jern’s Funeral Home for several years. Upon retiring she lived on and managed her family farm where she raised beef cattle and worked the farm from driving tractor to feeding stock.
She was a 50 year active member of the Women of The Moose # 383 in Mount Vernon, serving as their historian, receiving their ‘International Co-worker of the Year for the Mount Vernon Chapter’ honor. She regularly participated in dancing at the Hillcrest Lodge and the Skagit Valley Grange. She was a member of the Puget Power Retirees Assoc. She will be remembered for her love of family, friends, affiliations, helping and visiting with others, dancing, the farm, world affairs, cooking, watching sports, gardening, animals, history, and ‘just puttering.’
She is survived by her cousins, Andrea Xaver and Steve Howell of Ehrlich, Elizabeth Stewart, her husband Ken and their children, Levi, Carly and Sophie, of Big Lake. Jerry & Jolene McInnis of Lincoln, NE, Joanne Scott of Salem, OR, Laurence ‘Gene’ & Bea Michaels of Loon Lake, WA, Mayrian Wilson of Costa Mesa, CA, Loretta & Wilfred Doucet of Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada, Dorothy Hohenshelt of Kingwood, TX and Henning & Maxine Carlson and Bill & Ardele Carlson of Chehalis, WA. Many relatives in Sweden, many beloved friends, good friend and neighbor Pat Lindquist, special friend Fred Schleusner of Mount Vernon, and her pampered cat Princess. She was preceded in death by her parents, an infant brother and her husband Frank Lindgren.
The family suggests memorials be made to the Big Lake Volunteer Fire Dept. or the Big Lake Church of The Nazarene Building Fund.
Memorial services were held on Saturday, March 8, 2003 at 11:00 AM at Lemley Chapel in Sedro-Woolley. Pastor Dennis Spinnie of Big Lake Church of The Nazarene and members of the Women of The Moose officiated. A reception followed at the Moose Lodge in Mount Vernon. Private inurnment will be at Sedro-Woolley Union Cemetery. Cremation and arrangements under direction of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley. Share thoughts of Berna and sign the online guest register at www.lemleychapel.com