Obituary

On October 19th, 2018, Reatha Pauletta (Steele) Rudy passed away surrounded by family and friends into the hands of the Lord. Born on March 7th, 1927, to Levi and Thelma (Tift) Steele in Lake Odessa, MI she will be missed by many whose lives she touched.

Shortly after graduating from Lake Odessa High School in 1945, she moved to Washington DC where she managed a coffee shop for the Hamilton Hotel. Convincing a patron of the coffee shop that peach pie was just as good as apple pie started the love affair of her life. Reatha married Reuben Rudy on July 24th, 1954 in Arlington, Virginia, sharing 49 years of love, family and travel before Reuben’s passing in 2004. In 1956, Reuben and Reatha moved to Ferndale, WA, then settled in Bellingham where they built their family home in 1965.

Reatha loved quilting, eventually converting her garage into a quilting room where she lovingly created many quilting projects. She also enjoyed quilt shop hops, crocheting, traveling, walking the mall, her morning paper, and, most importantly, her grandkids and great grandkids.

Reatha is survived by her son Martin (Terri) of Renton, daughters Marta Rasmussen of Bellingham, Pamela (Bill) Rushlow of Goodyear, AZ, brothers Kendall (Joyce) Steele of Lake Odessa, MI, Roy Steele of Portland, OR, sister Verlene (Ted) of Clarksville, MI, eight grandkids Cara (Sid), Crystal (James), Amy (Edwin), Matthew (Dianna), Rachel, Kevin, Brandi (Simon) and Melissa (Scott) sixteen great grandkids Brittany, Rand, Arwen, Jacob, Justin, Kylie, Brenden, Karys, Lillyanna, Kenji, Hunter, Lily, Bella, Devin, Ashton, Jaden and many nephews and nieces.

Services will be held on Friday, November 2, 2018 at 11AM at Moles Farewell Tributes Greenacres (5700 NW Dr. Ferndale).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Whatcom Hospice.