Eva Mae King

1922 - 2022

Eva Mae King
August 11, 1922 - October 1, 2022
Olympia, Washington - At the age of 100, Eva Mae King passed away peacefully at her home in Olympia and in the presence of her loving family. The previous day, she had remarked, "It is the end of an era." How right she was.
Born Eva Mae Rasmussen on August 11, 1922, in Carryhurst, Wyoming, she was the second of three daughters of Carl Rasmussen and Flora (Prawl) Rasmussen. Eva Mae spent her first few years on a ranch where Flora was employed as the cook and Carl as a ranch hand. Her father then became an engineer and the family moved to California. Her father's job required frequent moves all up and down the west coast. One time, when Eva Mae and her sisters were young, they had to fend for themselves in a cabin in the winter because both of their parents were in the hospital for an extended period.
During the Great Depression, when Eva Mae was a teenager, her father suffered a serious on-the-job back injury, resulting in the family remaining in the small logging community of Castle Rock, Washington, for the duration of her high school years. To make ends meet, her mother started a chicken ranch. Eva Mae and her sisters helped with the chickens, and Eva Mae also picked blackberries for the local bakery. She had a busy social life, too, acting in school plays, writing for the school newspaper, and attending school dances. While she was still in high school, she and her sister, Betty, went on a double date with two brothers who were loggers. Eva Mae ended up marrying Betty's date, Richard ("Dick") King.
World War II had begun by then. Richard served in the Coast Guard during the war. He was stationed in Seattle, Washington, where Eva Mae bore their first child. A few years later, Richard medically retired from the service and they moved to Olympia, Washington, where Eva Mae bore three more children. She also babysat many neighborhood children, earning extra income for the family.
Later, Eva Mae had a long career as the executive assistant to the well-liked City of Olympia Manager, Eldon Marshall. Eldon liked to say, "if you need something, just ask Eva Mae." During this time, Richard was head liquor purchaser for the then-Liquor Control Board of Washington.
When Eva Mae was not working for the city, she sewed all her family's clothing, cooked for everyone Richard invited over on the spur of the moment, elaborately decorated cakes, knitted, and crocheted.
After they retired, Eva Mae and Richard travelled all over the world visiting friends and relatives. Eventually, they bought a Born Free RV and travelled with other Born Free owners all over the United States. After Richard passed away in 1996, Eva Mae continued to travel, spending winters in Florida with her daughter and summers in Olympia in the same home she had lived in since about 1948. She lived independently in that home until her death.
Eva Mae is preceded in death by her husband, Richard W. King; her son, Larry H. King; and her sisters, Betty Pumphrey and Ina Dee Churchill. She is survived by three children: Diane J. King (Tim Happeny), of Lacey, Washington; Dixie A. Reitz (Ken), of Oakville, Washington; and Cheryl D. Webster (Gary Gibson), of Merritt Island, Florida, and Bainbridge Island, Washington. She is also survived by 11 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great-grandchildren.
A celebration of life will be held at Mills and Mills Funeral Home in Tumwater at 5725 Littlerock Road S.W., Tumwater, WA, 98512, on Saturday, January 7, 2022, from 1:00 p.m.to 4:00 p.m. Appetizers will be served.