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OBITUARY
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OBITUARY |
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Anna Marie GreenfieldNovember 17, 1905 - February 26, 2008
Anna Marie Larsen Johnson Greenfield, who was a link to early island history and experienced a century of island life, died Feb. 26 in October House in Friday Harbor. She was 102. Marie was possibly the oldest resident of San Juan County and longevity ran in her family. In her life, Marie was active at the historical museum, Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church, Mullis Community Senior Center and the San Juan Island Grange. She was active in the church's ladies guilds and loved to bake cookies for the children's programs. She was an active card player and an award-winning bowler. Marie was grand marshal of the 2000 Fourth of July Parade, thanks to an essay written about her by her great-granddaughter, Courtney Clark.
Marie participated in the historical museum's oral history project; recordings of interviews with her are part of the collection in the museum. Marie was born on Nov. 17, 1905 in Bryant, S.D., to Theodore and Ingeborg (Luren) Larsen. The family moved to San Juan Island in 1918 when Marie was 12, and she remembered traveling by train through Montana. Marie was a tomboy as a youngster and enjoyed baseball and other outdoor activities. She excelled in school, loved learning and was good at reading and spelling. She met her future husband, Carl Johnson, when her brothers brought him to the house one day and after a four-year courtship, they agreed to marry. The Johnson?s raised their six children at Mitchell Bay. Carl Johnson was an Alaska fisherman and on one expedition, in 1953, he was lost at sea and his body was never recovered. Marie then raised her six children alone, the youngest being 8 at the time. She worked at the fish cannery and then spent many years working in the school district kitchen, and was there when her grandchildren went to school in the 1970s and 1980s. She always walked wherever she needed to go. She lived on her own until she was 98, and then moved into October House. Marie credited her long life to hard work, having fun, staying active and eating right. She is survived by her children, Charles Johnson, of Arkansas; Jean Collins, of Maui, Hawaii; Jim Johnson, of Friday Harbor; Alene (Don) Bea, of Lafayette, Calif.; Joan (Ed) Johnson, of Friday Harbor; and Don (Joanne) Johnson, of La Conner. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, as well as two sisters-in-laws, Emma and Marion Larsen, both of Port Townsend. |
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