Miriam L. Ewing
July 5, 1928 – February 9, 2022
Miriam Ewing is in Heaven with Jesus singing in the highest glory.
Miriam Louise Anderson was born July 5,1928 in Seattle to Charles and Ruth Anderson and passed away peacefully and quietly on February 9, 2022 at the age of 93.
Miriam grew up in the Fremont District of Seattle where she had a view of Seattle from her bedroom on Evanston Street. It was there that she ran a neighborhood printing press interviewing neighbors for all the goings on in the neighborhood. She moved as a teenager with her family to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island where her father was an automobile mechanic and woodworker. She enjoyed her time living on the salt water and island life. Her father built a rowboat for her to participate in the Friday Harbor Rowboat Races. Her first job was at the Friday Harbor Cannery (think of I Love Lucy and the cans piling up in front of her).
Mom was beautiful inside and out. She was Miss San Juan County and Apple Blossom Royalty. She graduated from Friday Harbor High School with her graduating class of nine seniors. She attended Western Washington College in Bellingham to pursue a degree in teaching and was a substitute teacher. It was there she was courted by Robert (Bob Ewing). They married in 1949 and celebrated 66 years together.
They moved to Brawley, California where Bob was in the Border Patrol on the Mexican border and their eldest son, Charlie, was born. They moved to Blaine Washington in 1952 and made their family home with their four children.
Our Mom charmed the socks off anyone who met her with her quiet demeanor and lending an ear to those who needed someone to listen. She was known for her home baked bread, lemon meringue and pumpkin pies and Santa Claus cookies. She was an environmentalist before most had ever heard of it. She composted, recycled and repurposed. She grew her own vegetables and fruit and preserved her bounty by freezing and canning. She loved animals and took joy in listening for the first robin singing in the spring. On a crisp fall day, our family loved cleaning up the cider press and gathering apples to press, squeeze and can for gallons of homemade apple juice. She loved hard work. The basement of our H Street home was hand dug by Mom, Dad and the boys using shovels and buckets.
Family dinners and a balanced, healthy menu were important to her. She always had home baked yummy things for anyone who dropped by for a visit. Hot chocolate and cookies were readily available as well as first aid for the winter sledders on H Street Hill. She loved to ice skate and performed beautifully on the neighbor’s frozen pond. She loved a fierce bocce ball tournament, Monday night badminton or a good baseball game. She’d stay up all night playing card games with relatives. One of her favorite card games was “Oh Hell” which she renamed “Oh Beep”.
Miriam was a volunteer and loved to help others. She and Bob were active participants in the Whatcom County Farm Forestry Association where they worked at the Annual Tree Sale and were awarded Farm Foresters of the Year for the tree farm they lovingly planted and maintained along the South Fork of the Nooksack River.
She was a Cub Scout Leader for Pack 25 and active with Troop 25 Boy Scouts in Blaine, a Room Mother for her children’s classes at the Blaine Elementary School, active in the Christian Women’s Club and a melodic singer who sang at many events including the Blaine Music Study Club, her church, and countless weddings and funerals in the area.
Mom’s favorite times were with her family hiking in the Cascade Wilderness, looking for sea glass and agates on the beach, building bonfires you could see from Russia, picnics, growing giant pumpkins for the family competition, and her raft trip 280 miles through the Grand Canyon in Arizona. She would draw pencil sketches of our camps or write a little jingle about large fungi clinging to tree stumps. Her favorite holidays were Christmas and April Fools Day. She was quite a prankster. Her sewing and knitting are exhibits of the love she had for traditions. This included knitting each of us, including her grandchildren, a hand knit Christmas stocking that she lovingly hung in her living room each Christmas, to sewing matching flannel PJ’s for the entire family that we looked forward to opening Christmas morning.
Miriam is remembered for her infinite patience, her unwavering love of Jesus Christ as her personal Savior, and her quiet demeanor as she expressed kind and genuine concern for others. She adored her grandchildren.
She is predeceased by her parents Charles and Ruth Anderson, her husband Bob in 2015, Her brother, Bruce Anderson, sister, Ruth Hodges, brother, Rex Anderson and brother, Charles Anderson. She is survived by her son Charlie (Kathy) Ewing, of Lynden, daughter Melinda Ewing (Mike Bellitto) of Lakewood, Colorado, son Bob Jr. (Lorena) of Washington DC, and daughter Mary Green (Jim) of Ferndale; five grandkids, Ken, Dan, Mark, Luke, Jonathan; five great grandchildren, Holly, Maya, Eli, Hudson and Elliott as well as many nieces and nephews and friends.
2nd Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day.
We know you are at peace, Mom. Until we meet again. Hallelujah Praise God.
Memorials are appreciated to Whatcom County Farm Forestry Association P.O. Box 1121, Bellingham, WA 98225 or Whatcom County Hospice, 2800 Douglas Avenue, Bellingham WA 98227.
