Sally Lund

Burlington - Sally Lund died peacefully on June 24 at Where the Heart Is Assisted Living and Memory Care Center in Burlington.

Sally was a devoted wife of 64 years to her husband, John Clifford "Skip" Lund, and a loving mother and grandmother. Sally was also a woman of many talents. A lover of music, she was an accomplished singer, a gourmet cook, and a master gardener.

Sally Marie Davidson was born July 16, 1933 in East Stanwood to parents Morris and Sylvia (Pesonon) Davidson. Her mother was of Finnish descent, her dad Norwegian. She spent most of her life in the Skagit Valley. She attended elementary school in Baker Heights and junior high in Clear Lake. She initially attended Sedro-Woolley High School, but would later transfer to Union High School in Mount Vernon, where she graduated in 1951.

In the spring of her senior year of high school, her gift of singing earned a first-place award at a talent show in Concrete that was publicized in the Skagit Valley Herald. She was a soloist in the Northwest Music Festival in Sedro-Woolley, and was active in her church and high-school choirs.

That gift of music paid off when it came time for college in the fall of '51. Sally's music scholarship to Seattle Pacific College covered the cost of tuition. She attended SPC for two years, and had hoped to graduate there. But she was dating Skip, also a student at SPC, whom she had begun dating in high school in Mount Vernon and as attenders of Bethany Covenant Church. Marriage beckoned, and the two were wedded on June 27, 1953 at Bethany Covenant.

After Skip served a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, they returned to Mount Vernon in 1957. Skip's job with Seattle-First Bank led to moves to Monroe in 1963, then two years later to Sedro-Woolley, where the family resided for the next 10 years.

A stay-at-home mother when her children were young, Sally went back to school at Skagit Valley Junior College in 1967 to receive a certificate of proficiency for typing and shorthand. Soon after, she began work as a stenographer for Northern State Hospital. Seeing the handwriting on the wall that the hospital would eventually close - which it did in 1973 - in the fall of '71 she began a new job as a media circulation assistant at the library at Skagit Valley Junior College. She remained a faithful employee at the college until her retirement in 1993, when her work was lauded by then-SVC president James M. Ford.

Sally used her gift of singing and librarian skills as a longtime member of Bethany Covenant Church, in addition to Community Covenant Church of Clear Lake, Crossroads Covenant Church in Burlington and Central United Methodist Church in Sedro-Woolley.

Sally was preceded in death by her husband, Skip, parents Morris and Sylvia, and sister Sheila. She is survived by sister Shirley of Mount Vernon; sons Rick (spouse Vicki) of Stanwood, John (spouse Brenda) of Burlington, and daughter Cindy (spouse Susan) of Vancouver, Washington; grandchildren Kent, Ryan, Krista, Colleen, Sonja and Greta; great-grandchildren, Torsten, Austin, Isaac, Ryker, Svea, Sutton, Odin, Ida, Magnus, Aksel, Sailor and Skipper.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 19, at Bethany Covenant Church in Mount Vernon, with a reception to follow. Memorials can be made through donations to Bethany Covenant Church or Hospice of the Northwest.