Verna Clare DeForrest
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Verna Clare DeForrest died on Saturday June 11, 2022 in Bellingham, WA. She was born to Henrietta Rose Wittman and Vernon Clarence Pierce on October 6, 1932 in Anacortes, WA. After graduating from Anacortes High School in 1950 Verna went to work for the Department of the Navy at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station as a secretary/stenographer. Whilst at the Naval Air Station she met the love of her life Earl Albert DeForrest. Verna and Earl Albert DeForrest were married soon after, on June 30th, 1956 at St. Mary Catholic Church in Anacortes, WA.
After Earl's honorable discharge, he joined the Oregon State Patrol and was stationed in Oregon. Verna and Earl resided in Oregon for the next 12 years where daughters Earlene and Cynthia were born. It was the first time she was away from her clan. She worked for the Bureau of Mines and later for the U.S. Forest Service in Portland, Oregon. In 1968 they returned to Anacortes where sons Mark Edward and Matthew Earl were born. Verna lost one of her newborns, Matthew Earl one day after his birth. It was with gratitude his twin brother survived, Mark Edward. The happiest years of Verna's life were spent in Anacortes where she could spend more time with her family and friends.
She worked in Anacortes during those years at OK Tires, and St Mary Catholic Church. Verna enjoyed the great outdoors, farming with Earl, raising their children, dinner at 5pm promptly (Earl was a military man), church on Sundays, and plenty of play in between. Her favorite pastimes were nurturing a garden and listening to music, Pavarotti and Bocelli. As a young woman she sang professionally for funerals and weddings and special occasions. Picnics with her large extended family were a high point of the Anacortes years as well as throwing a crab pot into the local waters. She loved to dig clams and fry them for dinner. She was generous of spirit with all, loved babies most of all! She was a person to whom place was important. She was imbued with the spirit of her birthplace where the sea meets the land, where family was everything, and where you could grow your own food, harvest from the ocean and have friends in for supper. Her clan was always nearby, mother, father, siblings - Colleen and Jim, and many cousins, aunts and uncles. Where extended family picnics at Rosario, Sunset, and North Beach, were a common thing, and Democrat Parties where the barbequed salmon was legendary! Where old timers would gather around a picnic table often under the Deception Pass bridge, spread newspaper and crack freshly boiled crab and shrimp! Verna was a 'put down roots' type person. She lived her faith quietly and with devotion. She gave generously to all, both of her heart and her pocketbook. She never gave up on people, including the homeless.
Verna was preceded in death by her husband, Earl, her children, Matthew Earl, Mark Edward and daughter, Cynthia Alexander. She is survived by her daughter Earlene (Jim Kent): grandchildren: Matthew Kent, Katy Alexander, Emma, Art and Finn Lochwood, Ian Alexander, and Mark's widow, Adelle DeForrest; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. The DeForrest Clan thanks the staff at Summit Assisted Living Place in Bellingham Washington for their comfort and care these last four years of Verna's life, and her treasured friends at Summit who made her days more joyous with laugher, jam and cracker feasts in her room. Verna will be laid to rest in Anacortes alongside her husband, Earl Albert, and near her parents, and twin boys, at Fernhill.
In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to Catholic Family Services or a charity of your choice.
A Rosary service and Funeral Mass will be held at St. Mary Catholic Church beginning at 12:30 on June 24, 2022, with a Graveside service at Fernhill cemetery to follow. A reception will be held at St. Mary Catholic Church subsequent her services.
To share memories of Verna, please sign the online guestbook at www.evanschapel.com/obituary/verna-deforrest