Christina May Lahmer Taran

1920 - 2017

Christina May Lahmer Taran

Christina May Lahmer arrived January 26, 1920 in Niagara on the Lake, Canada and departed December 2, 2016 in Seattle. A Washington by maternal descent and Swiss Mennonite immigrants on father's side, she grew up in Victoria, BC.

After nursing school, she joined the Trauma Registered Nurses at the Canadian-British Naval Base in Bermuda patching up mangled sailors from Allied ships battered in the WWII Battle of the Atlantic.

She married John Carlyle Taran, a dashing export executive at Seattle's Star Machinery Company, in 1948.

A pioneer in her time, she pursued a triple career: raising three children, public health nurse, and lifelong community activist. Son Patrick arrived in 1949, Malcolm in 1952 and Theresa in 1953.

After obtaining a Masters in Public Health at the UW, she was school nurse at Meany and Eckstein Middle Schools. She founded and managed a rooming house business until she was 88.

Christina taught respect for people and for that of God in every person by words and deeds. She was internationalist, peace activist and environmentalist as well as an avid folk dancer. In the 1950s, she worked with the American Indian Women's Service League and campaigned to stop destruction of the Seattle Arboretum by bridge construction. In the 1960s, she joined -with kids in tow-vigils to stop US warfare in Vietnam. Christina was active in the Quaker University Friends Meeting for 60 years.

Holidays comprised family visits with the Lahmer clan in Victoria and Vancouver and Taran relatives in Salem, Oregon. Summertimes were country living at "the Farm" on southern Puget Sound.

In 1960, Christina and John traveled around the world, across Europe, the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan, India, South-East Asia, the Philippines, Australia, then island hopping across the Pacific. They later hosted visitors and traveled annually to Europe with SERVAS worldwide cooperative network.

Christina and John sponsored Chilean refugees Mariella and Celso Galvez in 1977. After loosing her daughter to cancer in 1979, Christina adopted Mariella, whose children Ivan and Tatiana became her grandchildren. Chris also put two brothers from Thailand through high school in Seattle.

Husband John passed away in 2008. Christina resided at Ida Culver House, later at Garden View Residence in Shoreline, sharing stories and jokes to her last day.

The memorial celebration of her life is January 29, 2 pm at University Friends Meeting in Seattle.

Please share your thoughts in Christina's on-line Remembrance Book at www.Legacy.com.