Peggy Jean McRae

I was born May 15, 1934, to Bill and June Sullivan and grew up on a farm at the end of Sullivan Road in Bow. I lived in a farmhouse which was heated by a wood stove and lit with kerosene lamps. Water was pumped by hand and carried into the house for drinking and heated on a wood stove for bathing. I had no siblings until my brother was born when I was 12 and entertained myself playing house and making mud pies with old apples.

I attended grade school in Edison and graduated from Burlington-Edison High School in 1952. I am survived by my children, Cheri McRae and Ken D. McRae; my brother, Bill Sullivan (Beverly) and my nephew, Willy Sullivan and his two daughters, Abby and Alex. These two girls mean the world to me. I also have a wonderful life-long friend I met in first grade. Sheila Wiese and I have kept in contact all our lives.

I married the love of my life, Kenneth McRae, on August 1, 1951, in Anacortes. Ken worked at McRae Packing Company in Edison. I enjoyed going to livestock auctions with him. When Ken had to transport more than one load of cattle, I would go back the next morning to get the rest. I could back the cab-over to the loading chute better than any man!

I worked at Hudson's Grocery in Edison and at the Short Stop. After Cheri was born in 1955, I became a stay-at-home Mom. Son, Ken, was born in 1959. I also drove pea trucks and hauled peas to the pea sets, driving the night shift. Cheri and Ken logged many hours in the truck with me. They also logged many miles with Dad in the truck when he hauled beef to Seattle and Tacoma, often leaving at 2 a.m. They took turns going to Eastern Washington to livestock auctions, and loved doing this because they spent the night in a motel and got to eat in restaurants. Cheri got her nose out of joint when she started school because she couldn't go with Dad and her brother could.

The family moved to Palmer, Alaska in 1972, when Ken went to work for the State of Alaska as a meat inspector. There were lots of wonderful times going on camping trips in the trailer, exploring Fairbanks, Valdez, fishing and catching shrimp at Homer, and digging clams at Clam Gulch on the Kenai Peninsula. In addition, we also enjoyed sledding and snowmobiling on frozen lakes, watching the Northern Lights, the sled dog races, sandhill cranes in the field behind the house, and watching moose bed down in the yard! While in Alaska, I worked as a waitress at the Kashim Restaurant in Wasilla. After the family moved into Anchorage, I worked at Anchorage Internation Airport for National Car Rental and enjoyed meeting people from all over.

Then, due to Ken's health problems, we returned to Edison. I opened the Edison Liquor Store in 1977 and managed the store for 39-1/2 years and loved what I did. Cheri and son Ken called me the "Booze Lady". I always said, "a lot of nice people came through those doors". My son worked with me for 7 years in the store and we had many good times together. I told him I didn't want working together to ruin our relationship, and it didn't.

After I retired, I built my dream house next door to my previous home. Some of my friends thought I was crazy building a new house at the age of 82. I told them, "If I get to live in it for 2 years, I'll be happy". Well, I got to live there for 6 years!

In 1999, I purchased a beach house in Ocean Park, Washington, making many wonderful trips there with friends and family. Cheri always told me I could never make up my mind about the smallest of purchases, but I sure surprised her when I made out a check and bought the house in record time!

I lived for my kids and they are everything to me. I could never figure out how I was "room mother" for either Cheri or Ken so many times. Well, they volunteered me. I loved baking cookies and decorating cupcakes and was happiest when I was cooking. I also enjoyed loading up the station wagon to take the kids on field trips and picnics. I also enjoyed being a Camp Fire leader and remember taking the girls camping at Camp Kirby, and holding my sleeping bag tight around my neck and listening to the mice scurrying around on the cabin floor!

I joined the Edison Women's Club in 1960's, serving as secretary for awhile and was president during the 1969 Edison Centennial Celebration. As a longstanding member, I was instrumental in raising funds to keep the streets lights on in Edison and rejoined the club when I returned from Alaska.

I loved mowing the lawn on my "green machine". Son Ken would gas up the mower and off I'd go. I could hardly wait to get well so I could mow lawn again, but God had other plans for me.

My family and I would like to extend our thanks to the Edison Fire Department, the Burlington EMTs, the doctors and staff at United General Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, Skagit Valley Hospital, and Hospice of the Northwest. We would not have gotten this far without your help. Our thanks to all who have checked in on us and supported us on this journey.

Donations can be made to the Edison Fire Department, P.O. Box 116, Bow, WA, 98232 or Hospice of the Northwest, 227 Freeway Drive, Suite A, Mount Vernon, WA, 98273.

Please visit www.hawthornefh.com to share your thoughts and memories and sign the online guest register.

It broke our hearts to lose you

You did not go alone

For part of us went with you

The day God called you home