Margaret Alexander Lewis

Palm Desert, CA Margaret Alexander Lewis died Aug. 10, 2014, at home in Palm Desert, Calif., of natural causes. She was 91. She was born in Seattle on Feb. 3, 1923, to Helen and Maure Alexander. She had a younger sister, Grace. Their mother was a homemaker and their father sold dry goods and wholesale groceries. Margaret attended Lowell Grade School and graduated Broadway High School in 1940. In 1944, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature and creative writing from the University of Washington. At the UW, Margaret joined Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. She was elected to Mortar Board and Totem Club, campus honorary societies. She also was active in W Key and the American Association of University Women. Those years, during the Second World War, shaped Margaret and her generation. She met women and men then who became her lifelong friends. She married her sweetheart, William “Bill” Lewis, in her junior year. Billy and Margie, as college friends called them, had met as teenagers through mutual family friends. On Sept. 9, 1943, Bill, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade, was able to get a brief leave before shipping overseas, and they held an impromptu ceremony at her parents’ home. She borrowed a satin wedding gown and pinned it so it fit her slender frame. He wore his white Navy dress uniform. They honeymooned for a few days in Bremerton. While in college, Margaret worked as a script writer for Seattle’s KJR radio. She also began work at the United States Office of War Information, a job she kept after graduating and relinquished when Bill was discharged from the service and they moved to Lynden, Wash., Bill’s home, in 1945. His father, Sol, published the weekly Lynden Tribune. Bill and his brother, Julian, became co-publishers in 1954 after Sol died. As Bill settled into the family newspaper, Margaret began making a home. They had three daughters, Marilyn, born in 1948, Barbara, in 1951, and Patti, in 1954. She had sorrows, of course, but her life on the balance was long, happy and successful. She lived it on her own fastidious terms. She was a beautiful, gracious woman with taste and style. She loved dancing and parties. She wrote monogrammed thank you notes and could set a formal table and arrange flowers. She could make conversation with a state senator, a passing stranger or a shy child. She was a list maker, a matchmaker and a networker, a devotee of Broadway show tunes and a proud grandma. She was a fashion maven and not much for sports, although she liked an occasional game of croquet. Over the years Margaret wrote wedding stories and features for The Tribune, including a travel column, “Going Places,” a recipe column, “Recipe of the Week,” and real estate articles in which she described recently built local homes. In the 1980s and ’90s she sold columns and feature stories to local publications and national boating magazines. She was a devoted friend to many people and they returned her loyalty and love. She was a superb cook. She and Bill hosted dinner parties, holiday meals, cocktail parties, barbecues, luncheons, play readings and, occasionally, big costume parties. She belonged to a longstanding Lynden garden club, a bridge club and the Whatcom County Orthopedic Guild. She volunteered as a model and commentator for March of Dimes’ designer fashion show-fundraisers in Bellingham, served on Lynden’s library board and was a Whatcom Community College trustee. Margaret was a strong supporter of women’s rights. She led two Campfire USA groups and organized activities for her children and their friends. She was an active PTA member and, with other parents, campaigned successfully in the 1960s to convince the Lynden School Board to allow dancing in the public schools. Margaret and Bill moved to Sudden Valley, near Bellingham, in 1988 after Bill retired from The Tribune. They were snowbirds, wintering at a second home in Palm Desert, Calif., to which they moved permanently in 2010. There, Margaret participated in a garden club and the Palm Desert Press Women. Twenty five years ago, she and Bill, devoted Husky fans, founded the annual UW Chow Down to Washington. It started as a small alumni picnic in Palm Desert and grew into a three-day fundraising event. The UW alumni association honored Margaret this year at the event. Bill died at home in 2011, at 90. Margaret tried out assisted living but it wasn’t for her. She was able, instead, to continue at living at home thanks to four extraordinary people who cared for her with heart and soul: Richard Scrima, Angie de la Torre and Rosa and Cesar Cordero. Margaret is survived by: daughters Marilyn Lewis, of Port Townsend, Barbara (Joe) Morrison, of Los Angeles and Patti (Neal) Lemlein, of Los Angeles; grandchildren Vasily Lewis, Seattle, Alexandra Lemlein, New York, Ryan Lemlein, Denver and Maggie Morrison, Los Angeles; step-grandchildren Pia Morrison Delphais, West Chester, Penn., Joe Morrison II, Los Angeles and Jonathan Morrison, West Chester, Penn.; sister, Grace Millman, Dune Acres, Ind., and niece, Heidi Millman, Downers Grove, Ill. Farewell Tribute Information A celebration of life for family and friends will be held at the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, 3:30p.m., Friday, Aug. 22. Donations Information Margaret adored children; rather than sending flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice that benefits children

Margaret Alexander Lewis

February 3, 1923 - August 9, 2014