| Noteringar |
- Bio: Alice Wikene was born on March 15, 1927 in Vancouver, British Columbia to William and Alice Chatwin. Alice was the youngest of three siblings, with two older brothers Melville and William. She was raised in Vancouver B.C. She married John Wikene in 1945. They started their family in Canada, with Brian born in 1947, followed by Barry in 1952. In 1957 the family moved to Lynnwood, WA.
Alice always had a strong work ethic. She started working at age 15 building crates at a tent factory for the war effort. She could have been considered a handy-woman. She helped with house construction and remodeling into her mid 80's. Working 3 levels of staging up to the age of 83 installing siding. Her meticulous attention to detail was highly valued at John Fluke Electronics where she worked from 1963 until she was 71 years old. She did photo-engraving for printed circuit boards in electronic instruments. She always said that she just enjoyed working.
Her artistic sensibility was expressed in her ceramics and porcelain-ware. She won “Best of Show” several times, both 1st and 2nd place regularly. The family home has an acre and a half in lawn and Alice would walk behind a self-propelled mower for four or five hours at a time. She maintained the yard beautifully for years. She weeded and kept up the lawn into her late 80s.
Alice valued education very highly. She ended up going back to college while working full time at Fluke Electronics. She went first to Shoreline Community College but then transferred to the University of Washington. All through college, she maintained a 4.0 GPA.
She read avidly, mostly in the educational genre, but on a variety of other topics including management, financial investments, along with Christian self-help type books. She couldn’t sit still. If she sat down to watch TV, she would crochet or knit something. She was never idle. She considered traveling an educational experience, traveling to all 50 States, Israel, Europe, and Mexico several times.
Alice and John were a great team together. They cut quite the contrast to one other; with her being 5’2” and John being 6’2”. But they were very compatible.
She was a very giving and generous person. When a neighbor’s wife became ill, Alice not only mowed their lawn but also did weekly housework. She was a major member of Fluke’s Activity Committee and the 20 Year Club for years. After retirement, she was a board member at the Lynnwood Senior Center. She volunteered for March of Dimes for 50 years, worked in a homeless shelter during the winter peaks, and helped in the local blood bank.
Alice was always very active, white-water rafting in her 70s, and she belonged to a hiking club, hiking to the top of Mount Rainier a couple of times. She never slowed down, continuing to walk with her dog up to six miles a day till she was 90 years old. Together with John, Alice helped start Harvest Time Church in Lynnwood, They also helped start Spruceway Chapel in Lynnwood. Her final church home was The Pursuit Northwest. She was a woman of great faith, who loved worship, fellowship and she was fervent in her belief in the power of God to change lives.
Alice Wikene was preceded in death by her husband and the love of her life, John Wikene, who passed in 2013. She is survived by her sons Brian (with Jeanie) and Barry. She also leaves behind five grandchildren: Janine, Brian Jr., Laura, Valerie and Wesley; and 13 great-grandchildren.
We will miss this amazing woman, Alice. We will treasure the memory of her deeply in our hearts, forever.
|
1927 - 2020 (93 år)
