Published: Thursday, July 29, 2010
Chair stolen from Marysville porch held widow's memories
The wooden chair, hand-carved in Zimbabwe and taken from a Marysville home, is a final link to the life a couple shared in Africa.
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Contributed photo
The wooden chair, handcarved in Zimbabwe, belonged to Kris Raymond's deceased husband. It was stolen from her front porch in Marysville. If you have any information about the chair, contact Marysville police detective Dan Vinson at 360-363-8390.
MARYSVILLE -- To Kris Raymond, it wasn't just a wooden chair. It was a beloved memento of her husband and the precious time they spent, living their dream, together in Africa.
And on Sunday, she found out it was gone.
That morning, Raymond got up to water the lawn and noticed that the chair's usual spot on the front porch was empty. Also gone from the porch were the butterfly decorations her mother had given her. Nothing else was taken.
"That chair always made me feel good to come home," she said. "It meant that, when I come home, Mike's still here with me. Africa's still here."
Raymond's husband, Mike Goetz, died last August at 53. The couple had been living in Zimbabwe, where they owned a bed and breakfast.
Goetz, a retired Seattle police officer, was living his dream, Raymond said.
"It made him 100 percent whole. He never thought his life would be cut short," she said.
But it was, by brain cancer.
To Raymond, that just proved once more that, "if you want to do something, do it now."
Goetz (no relation to Everett police spokesman, Sgt. Robert Goetz) loved Africa, Raymond said. After they married in 2001, the couple marked their honeymoon by climbing 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest point.
The wooden chairs were hand-carved by local craftspeople in Zimbabwe out of an African hardwood. Goetz's chair has a lion and a buffalo carved on it, and Raymond's has leopards.
The couple bought them in 2004, for a humble amount of money by American standards. It was enough, though, to feed several families in Zimbabwe for a month, Raymond said.
After Goetz died, Raymond moved to Marysville to be near family. Africa seemed too far away without her husband. The bed and breakfast is for sale now, run by some friends. All that's left of the couple's time there are memories and a pair of wooden chairs.
Raymond hopes the chair will be found before Aug. 15, the first anniversary of Goetz's death. Maybe someone will spot the unique design and call the police. Or perhaps the thief will give the chair back after hearing its story.
"I just hope they have a conscience," she said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
Have you seen this chair?
If you have any information about the missing chair, contact Marysville police Detective Dan Vinson at 360-363-8390 or dvinson@marysvillewa.gov.
And on Sunday, she found out it was gone.
That morning, Raymond got up to water the lawn and noticed that the chair's usual spot on the front porch was empty. Also gone from the porch were the butterfly decorations her mother had given her. Nothing else was taken.
"That chair always made me feel good to come home," she said. "It meant that, when I come home, Mike's still here with me. Africa's still here."
Raymond's husband, Mike Goetz, died last August at 53. The couple had been living in Zimbabwe, where they owned a bed and breakfast.
Goetz, a retired Seattle police officer, was living his dream, Raymond said.
"It made him 100 percent whole. He never thought his life would be cut short," she said.
But it was, by brain cancer.
To Raymond, that just proved once more that, "if you want to do something, do it now."
Goetz (no relation to Everett police spokesman, Sgt. Robert Goetz) loved Africa, Raymond said. After they married in 2001, the couple marked their honeymoon by climbing 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest point.
The wooden chairs were hand-carved by local craftspeople in Zimbabwe out of an African hardwood. Goetz's chair has a lion and a buffalo carved on it, and Raymond's has leopards.
The couple bought them in 2004, for a humble amount of money by American standards. It was enough, though, to feed several families in Zimbabwe for a month, Raymond said.
After Goetz died, Raymond moved to Marysville to be near family. Africa seemed too far away without her husband. The bed and breakfast is for sale now, run by some friends. All that's left of the couple's time there are memories and a pair of wooden chairs.
Raymond hopes the chair will be found before Aug. 15, the first anniversary of Goetz's death. Maybe someone will spot the unique design and call the police. Or perhaps the thief will give the chair back after hearing its story.
"I just hope they have a conscience," she said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
Have you seen this chair?
If you have any information about the missing chair, contact Marysville police Detective Dan Vinson at 360-363-8390 or dvinson@marysvillewa.gov.
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