Mary Joan Moffat

“If I could sit across the porch from God I would thank Him for lending us you.”

Mary Joan Moffat (nee Meals) preferred using her childhood nickname “Mimi”. She was born 2/20/1934 in Seattle and passed away peacefully on 4-19-16 at her home in Mount Vernon, WA surrounded by doting family at the age of 82 of cancer.

Mary comes from a long lived line of loyal hardworking men and women pioneers which she was very proud of including professions such as buffalo hunters, blacksmiths, writers, inventors, farmer/ranchers and railroad builders. Her relatives built many of the railroads connecting Alaskan towns when it was a territory. Her father, John E. Meals, a CPA for 41 years, started and edited Alaska Magazine in 1927 and was the founder of The Seattle Foundation. Mary’s grandfather, Andrew Jackson Meals, invented the Ditch Witch—a construction tool still in use by contractors today. Andrew and his friend George Hazelett donated 350 acres to the city of Valdez so that the city could be rebuilt after the 1964 earthquake decimated the town. Valdez resides on that family land to this day and streets are named after both parties. Her mother, Leona Graber was far ahead of her time, becoming a ladies clothing and dry goods buyer traveling to San Francisco, Chicago and New York at the age of 18 before meeting John in Alaska while visiting a friend.

Mary’s first job in her high school years while she attended Holy Names Academy on Capitol Hill in Seattle, WA was at Children’s Orthopedic Hospital. There she served meals to children and washed dishes. The Meals family tradition was that you earned your living by your hands and by hard physical labor, but her parents John and Leona, wanted her to be the first member of their family to graduate from college. They offered her free room and board and the promise that they would pay for her to go to art school afterwards if she would pay for her own college tuition. So, at age 18, she put herself through college working part-time as a sales clerk at the Bon Marche and eventually as an elevator operator supervising six elevators. “Third floor, ladies apparel, intimate wear, coats, accessories and beauty shop” she said while on autopilot repeating the phrase four hours a day going up and down, up and down. She quickly calculated the amount of money she earned with each trip and translated it into the number of hours of school wages purchased.

After graduating from Seattle University with an MA in Commerce and Finance with an emphasis on Advertising in hopes of going onto art school, she went to work full time for the Department of Social Health and Welfare where she worked many years in between marrying her first husband and having 6 children (one still birth). She retired as a caseworker supervisor at the Department of Social and Health Services where she met her second husband and true love, William Y. Moffat. They married on May 8, 1971. After retiring there and caring for her father until, she took a job at Sky Nursery in Shoreline, WA where she enjoyed working many years.

Mary’s true love was the ocean, but she had many interests including photography, travel, driving and her grand dog, Chico. She loved tennis as a girl and prided herself on being able to play the Minute Waltz in exactly 60 seconds. Being a child of the depression, one of her ultimate delights was the taste of a bakery-baked whipped cream filled cream puff.

She resided her entire life in the state of Washington, but her bucket list included traveling the entire 50 states which she did with her second husband, Bill Moffat. Unfinished on her list was the dream of attending art school, but her children saw her talents in this area when she designed hors d'oeuvres and decorated the many cakes and cheesecakes she produced for all kinds of special functions over many decades.

Mary never liked cats but put up with the myriad of fish, lizards, guinea pigs, pocket pets, rabbits and even a goat her children brought into the family while her children were growing up. Her real love, though, was dogs. She loved dogs, and openly supported her children’s grand dogs. We know she has several dogs from her childhood that she has missed for many decades who are also meeting her at the Rainbow Bridge.

Preceding her in death were: her father, John Edward Meals; her mother, Leona Graber Meals; her beloved brother John (Jack) Meals; and her loving husband William Young Moffat.

Surviving her are her children Dr. Denice M. Moffat of Deary, ID; Don C. Wilson of Mt. Vernon, WA and his wife Regli and their sons Michael and Kevin; Edward J Wilson and his wife Cynthia, their children Amanda and William; Thomas J Wilson; Jerome F Wilson of Clinton, WA and his wonderful wife, Barb who shared caretaking with Don the last year or two of her life when she really needed 24-hour care. Also surviving her is her very best childhood friend, Mary Alice Kennedy.

The family would like to thank her medical doctor, Jhoanna M. Santos, MD for her many years of care—you instilled great confidence in a woman not prone to going to medical doctors for herself. Also a huge thanks to hospice who expertly organized weekly visits her last couple months of life.

A small internment ceremony was held April 28, 2016 at Hawthorne Memorial Park in Mount Vernon, WA at Creekside where she now rests with her husband, William. In lieu of memorials, please do a kind deed for someone you love. You may send condolences to her daughter, Denice Moffat at 1069 Elk Meadow Lane, Deary, ID 83823.