Life Story: If you use Lowell Park, thank Elizabeth Graham

Published 10:44 pm Saturday, May 9, 2009

There is no doubt about the legacy left by Elizabeth Graham. She is credited with designing Lowell Community Park, the heart of her Everett neighborhood.

“It’s the focus of our community,” said Gail Chism. “It’s where everyone gathers for celebrations. It’s a well-used park.”

One would think there were plenty of chores to keep Graham busy at Glen Gyle Farm in Lowell. She loved the family business, but also performed duties from club to club.

“I met her through the Lowell Civic Association,” Chism said. “She was a warm, giving woman.”

Elizabeth Francesca Graham, 95, died March 1 after a brief illness. She was born April 22, 1913, in Edam, Saskatchewan, the eldest child born to Julius Franciscus and Lottie Marie Geraldine Brandsma Hassing.

She grew up in Edam, then left Canada for Snohomish. She married Everett dairyman Edwin Graham on March 30, 1937, and together they made a bountiful life for their family on Glen Gyle Farm in Lowell.

“Glen is a valley,” said her daughter, Elaine Wilson. “Gyle is a creek. It was named in 1917.”

Two children and two grandchildren grew up on the farm where Wilson lives. Her mother was a hard worker, an incomparable cook and always generous and helpful to friends and neighbors when they were in need.

Besides her family, Graham loved to travel and read all sorts of books. She was a longtime member of the Laurel Heights Federated Women’s Club and the Friendship Club at First Baptist Church.

She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Nellie and Harvey Haugen of Everett; son and daughter-in-law, Raymond and Jane Graham of Arlington; daughter-in-law Merleann Graham of Snohomish; daughter and son-in-law Elaine and Dale Wilson of Everett; grandchildren Eric and Julie Wilson of Everett, Susanne and Jeff Duren of Winlock, Heather Graham of Lake Stevens, Cheryl Graham of Seattle, Chuck Knopp and family of Twin Falls, Idaho, Janay Pettet of Smokey Point and Geoffery Pettet of Arlington; and great-grandchildren, Lottie and Cassie Duren and Jordan Cravens of Smokey Point.

Graham was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Edwin James Graham; son, David; and two brothers, Julius and Henry Hassing.

Nellie Haugen was 19 years younger than her sister. When she was young, she said, Graham was a mother figure.

Her sister was able to make repairs around the farm, loved to swim and had a great sense of humor.

“She was handy, in a time when you didn’t go out and buy things, you did things,” Haugen said. “She was outgoing, more so than me. She had different clubs she belonged to.”

At the farm, Graham drove the hay truck and cooked for the crew. She made time to be president of the Parent Teacher Association at her children’s school, her daughter said.

When land was donated for the local park, Edwin Graham helped clear the site. Elizabeth Graham was the architect for the park property. For all her good deeds, she was honored with a plaque in 2003 by the Lowell Civic Association.

“She knitted, sewed and had a big vegetable garden,” Wilson said. “Education was very important to her.”

Lowell is known for lowland flooding, and Glen Gyle Farm saw its share of high water.

Mom insisted the kids not miss any classes, her daughter said.

“Dad put us in the bucket of the tractor across the water,” Wilson said. “We never got to stay home from school in a flood.”

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.