Rebecca Regina Meyer

Rebecca Regina (Klaus) Meyer passed away on January 31st, 2017 at the Hearthstone at Green Lake in Seattle, where she had lived for sixteen years. She was 103 years old.

Becky was born in Golden Valley, ND to Gottlieb and Salome Klaus, German immigrants from the Little Leipzig settlement near the Black Sea in Russia. Gottlieb was a successful wheat farmer; he and Salome started a large family in this German-speaking community. Sadly, Becky lost both her parents and an older sister to tuberculosis by the time she was in her early teens. She lived with her maternal grandparents, Louise and Johann Lang, for part of this time. By age fifteen she was living with her older sister Emma, helping with her baby niece, Norma. Because Emma's family moved frequently, Becky attended four different high schools before she graduated from Grant High School in Portland, OR. Becky completed business college in Portland.

She was a strong, independent career woman. She and her best friend Beverly Burrows took a train trip together to the San Francisco World's Fair. She was working at Credit Reporting where she met her future husband, Donald Meyer, an aeronautical engineering student at Oregon State College. They married in 1942 and moved to Seattle where Don worked at the Boeing Co. for over forty years. They were married for sixty-five years.

Becky was quiet, humble, sweet, dependable, and full of grace. After a tumultuous childhood, she found stability in her life through her deep faith. Reading was so important to her that she made sure that her daughters got library cards as soon as they could write their names. Becky read several books a week up until the last two weeks of her life. She was a meticulous seamstress, and she taught her daughters to sew. Becky also loved flowers; she grew sweet peas and roses and created beautiful flower arrangements.

Becky and Don were among the first members of a new congregation, Maple Leaf Lutheran Church, and they were both active in this church community throughout their lives. Becky still had good friends from Maple Leaf at the Hearthstone. She loved Bible Study, teaching Sunday School, and she helped make hundreds of quilts to send to missions abroad.

She was a Girl Scout leader, a Children's Orthopedic Guild member, and an avid boater. In the 1950's, inspired by living on a houseboat on the Willamette River when he was young, Don built a twenty-foot outboard cabin cruiser. Becky and Don cruised in the San Juan Islands for many summers with their three daughters and Don's mother, Grandma Bess. Becky was the # 1 fish catcher and deck hand in the family. They were lifetime members of the Queen City Yacht Club; all three of their boats were named Moon Beam.

Becky was a wonderful cook and family entertainer. Her Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were always perfect. We all loved her stuffed cabbage, borsch, and pickled salmon. Her famous potato salad was a welcome dish on boat trips and family picnics.
Becky was a tiny, beautiful woman with a perfect complexion and a German profile; she dressed in her beautifully hand-sewn clothes. She was born before women could vote, but when she came of age, she never missed an election.

Becky is preceded in death by her sister Helen at age 15, brother Bernhard at age 10 (by a shooting accident), and sister Olga, an infant. Her brother Ted and sister Emma passed away in adulthood. Her husband Don passed away in 2007. Three daughters survive her, Eileen (Bob) Knobbs, Marilyn (Myron) Sizer, and Barbara (John) Newby. She has five grandchildren, Karl and Ian Knobbs, Malaika Brown, and Siri and Austen Hoogen. She received great joy from her seven great grandchildren: Elora and Toby Knobbs; Max Sperry and Rebecca Hoogen; and Beckett, Davis, and Laila Brown.

We will have a celebration of Becky's life on March 11, 2017 at 2:00 PM at the Hearthstone Chapel. We would love for you to come and share your memories.