Elizabeth N. Johnson, of Mercer Island, died on Sept. 7, 2008. She was 95. Born Jan. 25, 1913 in Pendleton, Ore., Mrs. Johnson was preceded in death in 1995 by her husband, Chester H. Johnson, who was a member of the Associated General Contractors organization. As a couple, they took great joy in their annual boating trips on “Mercer Girl” to Alaska for over 20 years. She was a devout member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church of Mercer Island and a resident of Covenant Shores for 11 years. Mrs. Johnson is survived by her sisters, Kathryn Myhre of Port Townsend, Wash., and Margaret Moody of Santa Maria, Calif.; and her brother, Frank Norwood, of Port Townsend, Wash.
Elsie Hansen Boyle began her life in Seattle one hundred years ago and died in Seattle on Sept. 6. In the intervening years, she moved more than 50 times. She traveled to five continents and lived in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, in addition to many places in the United States. She graduated from Olympia High School and worked her way through the University of Washington. Her first job after graduation was teaching high school English in Bremerton. She eventually took a job teaching English at the University of the Philippines and became a ghost writer for the Filipino president. In Puerto Rico, she edited the English language newspaper; years later, she taught English at Thamasaet and Chulalongkorn Universities in Bangkok, Thailand. Her sense of adventure often put her at the maelstroms of the 20th century. She was a tourist in love with Goethe when she visited Berlin in 1936 and witnessed first-hand the Nazi dictatorship. She was in Beijing when the Japanese invaded, and she escaped on a train to Shanghai. She married an American naval officer, Lt. Peter Boyle, who was at the time on the Yangtze River Patrol. For the next 40 years, her life was entwined with the U.S. Navy, first in Honolulu and Midway Island during the Korean War, and Japan during its reconstruction. She also lived in Saigon for four years before the Vietnamese War. In each place, Mrs. Boyle taught English freely to students who continued to keep in touch with her during the rest of her life. Other volunteer work included Save the Children, Lincoln Hospital in San Francisco, The Navy League and local church work in every place she lived. She was also an avid bridge player on every continent.
The Blessed Seelos Catholic Church, which braved winds of 96 mph two weeks ago as Hurricane Gustav tore through New Orleans, received “minimal damage” during the storm, according to Mercer Island resident and Pipe Organ Foundation President Carl Dodrill.
By Matt Phelps Mercer Island Reporter Many teams would have quit following a tough 0-3 preseason and finding themselves down…
As Mercer Island High School’s first graduating class of 1958 celebrates its golden anniversary, our first thought is how different life is 50 years later. Yet, in many ways, nothing has changed. Community members worried then as they do now about how to accommodate growth while maintaining the essence and values of Island life. Island lore, newspaper stories and even books reveal that early Islanders fought off most anything that threatened their way of life for years — even when changes were sorely needed.
Back to school is a special time. One million children filled their backpacks with new books, nervous energy and optimism and boarded yellow buses to return to school. Some are all but guaranteed to end the school year far ahead of where they are now. Too many will be less fortunate, experiencing less opportunity for growth, or worse yet, stagnation.
Bellevue Community College’s Willard Geer Planetarium will take viewers on a tour of the solar system during three public star shows on Friday, Sept. 19.
Children don’t come with operating manuals. So how, then, are parents to learn the essential skills and concepts they need to raise their children successfully?
The autumnal equinox is here. Labor Day may be the ceremonial finale to summer, but the equinox is the meteorological “so long, see ya next year.” Starting now, the days get shorter, the nights get longer. And your furnace gets busier.
Emmanuel Day School celebrated its first year as an independent preschool this week, after breaking away from the Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The move, which was official as of July 1, was the result of a congenial agreement between church administration and Emmanuel parents.
Sarah Bird, a columnist and published author, writes to us from Austin, Texas. She and Islander Tami Szerlip went to junior high and high school together in Albuquerque. After graduating from college in the early 70s, the friends went different ways. Szerlip moved out to the Northwest, eventually settling here on Mercer Island, where she raised two daughters and has been active in the PTA and working on children’s issues. Bird moved to Austin, where she raised a son and wrote seven novels, including a book about the former Texas governor, President George W. Bush, and his wife. She is also a columnist for Texas Monthly magazine.
Fifty years after leaving Mercer Island High School, alumni from the Class of 1958 — the first class to graduate from MIHS — walked the school’s hallways once again.
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