Maude Marian Posey

1916 - 2016

Sept. 24, 1916 - Oct. 15, 2016 Mom was born to Guy E. Thomas and Florence L. Thomas September 24, 1916, in Mellette, S.D.The family relocated to Puyallup, Wash., where she grew up and attended Puyallup schools. She studied piano from an early age and while in high school became a concert pianist and earned a scholarship to the St Louis Institute of Music. She graduated from high school at the age of 17 and married Arthur Snider. They lived on a small farm in Puyallup where her sons, Ellwyn and Keith, were born. In 1946 she used her scholarship and attended the St Louis Institute of Music. In 1947 the family moved to Pasco, Wash. In 1948 she was divorced from Art and in 1950 she met and married Alan Posey. Two children were born of this union, Robert and Susan. She worked as a legal secretary and as a medical receptionist while attending Columbia Basin College with a goal of becoming a teacher. After getting her Associates degree the family moved to Cheney, Wash., where she attended Eastern Washington University and got her BA in Education and later her Masters. She then accepted a teaching position with the Edmonds, Wash., school district. She went to the University of Washington where she obtained a Masters degree in Music. She remained in the Edmonds area where she taught school until she retired. Mom was an accomplished artist in both oil and water color paints and did beautiful ceramics. She lived in her home in Edmonds with a care giver until two years ago when she moved to Charbonneau Retirement Community in Kennewick, Wash. She was preceded in death by her husband, Alan Posey, her siblings, Robert Thomas, Richard Thomas, Frank Thomas, and Reva Skifteness. Mom lived to be 100 years old and was the last of her generation in her family. She is survived by her children, Ellwyn Snider, wife, Connie, Keith Snider, wife, Julia, both of Pasco, and Robert Posey, wife, Joanne, of Bothell, Wash., and Susan Gibbons, husband, Don, of Oceanside, Calif., plus six grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and nine great-great-grandchildren. There will be a graveside service on Friday, October 21, 2016, 1:00 p.m., at Desert Lawn Memorial Park in Kennewick. The family invites you to sign their online tribute wall at: www.muellersfuneralhomes.com