Grace Koen Stanchfield

I was always surprised by Grace's strength and sense of adventure. She was a single mother during the depression, a huge accomplishment. She had seen so much of the world change and evolve in her lifetime. But then when everyone else her age was retiring, she was still working and volunteering to help others- a woman with a very strong work ethic and strong political convictions, a woman I am proud to call my grandmother. She will be dearly missed.

While I never had the privledge of knowing or meeting Grace, I know that if she was half as nice as my friends Deri and Mari....well she had to be a very special person indeed! Thoughts and prayers to her family

I am Michael FitzPatrick. My wife, Miriam, and I publish a newspaper in the Pike Place Market and met Grace when she was 97. We published an article on her, but during the interview process we fell in love with her. (We re-wrote and updated the article when she turned 100.)
What an incredible woman she was. Amazingly sharp at 100, she once told us she would have her caregiver read all of the articles in our publication to her and describe the photos on the pages.
She was ever so...

I remember Aunt Grace's birthday two years ago...she was still at The Heritage House down in the Pike Place Market. A lot of the family went down for the Christmas parade and tree lighting at Westlake Center. We decided to visit Aunt Grace in between events, with twelve of us we had to visit in shifts. Aunt Grace loved seeing everyone and knew who everyone was and asked questions of all. I took four different groups up to her room as the rest strolled through the market.She was visited by...

Grace was the nicest, kindest and most thoughtful person we knew. I met Grace about 25 years ago when I worked at the Seattle School District and she would come there for the Spice program. We had many wonderful talks when I drove her home or talked on the phone. She was always so excited when we visited her at Pike Place Heritage House and the Shoreline Adult facility, especially when we brought our grandchildren, Amalie and Andrew. Every time I hear the songs she loved to sing, I think...

I will forever cherish the memories I have of visiting with Grace, as they were always cheerful, and warm. Her love radiated through her smile, her ability to illustrate interest in what ever you had going on in "your world",and her typical response of "I'll be darned" to stories/events being told to her. I will always remember the treasures found in the infamouse "junk droor" and the candy/cookies that would somehow make their way home with you.
Grace (grandma), and her son Joe (papa),...