Arlington school volunteer was a ‘grandma’ to kids

Published 10:21 pm Saturday, May 15, 2010

Beverly Rothrock looked forward to going back to elementary school several times every week.

She served as classroom volunteer and lunch buddy at Pioneer Elementary School in Arlington, and she and her husband Gene Rothrock were affectionately called Grandma and Grandpa Rock by students.

“There wasn’t a time that I didn’t see unbridled joy in Grandma Rock’s eyes when she spoke to a child,” said Beth Trafton, a second-grade teacher at Pioneer Elementary. “Her love for life and every living thing was contagious.”

The Rothrocks started visiting Trafton’s class weekly when their granddaughter was part of her first grade class at Kent Prairie Elementary School in Arlington. Each year, beginning in November, they would visit to help with crafts. Grandpa Rock would bring wood, hammers and glue with him to help students make Christmas tree card holders. In the spring, Grandma Rock helped students make May baskets with paper flowers and ribbons. They helped students decorate boxes to hold ceramic hearts for Mother’s Day.

Beverly Rothrock enjoyed working with kids and did so up until she died on April 23 in Everett. She was 68.

She is survived by her husband of 51 years, Gene “Rock” Rothrock; son Gene “Nick” Rothrock Jr. and his wife, Jolynn; daughter L. Rene Brown and her husband, Steve; son Gilbert Wilkins and his wife, Joyce; son Kevin Wilkins and his wife, Rae Lynn; three sisters and one brother; nine grandchildren; two great grandchildren; and six nieces and nephews.

Beverly Rothrock was born on Feb. 1, 1942, to Robert and Mildred Minish in Port Townsend. She grew up in Port Townsend, where in 1958, she met Gene at a USO dance. The couple married on Jan. 23, 1959, in Port Townsend.

They lived in Port Townsend for several years and had two children before his job with the Coast Guard took the family to Los Angeles. Rothrock’s 21-year career also took the family to Virginia and Alaska before they moved back to Washington.

While he was serving in the Coast Guard, his wife was busy being a mother and helping other people in their neighborhood, Gene Rothrock said.

“It seemed like everyplace we lived she took on another family,” he said. “She would be a shoulder to them to help them through their sorrow.”

She was a den mother and committee member of the Cub Scouts and continued to volunteer after he retired from the Coast Guard in 1977, Rothrock said. She taught Catholic Christian Doctrine at Catholic churches in Port Townsend; Seattle; and Morrow Bay, Calif. She was attending Immaculate Conception Church in Arlington before her death.

They moved to Marysville after he retired from the Coast Guard, Gene Rothrock said. He started work at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe. His wife went to work as a receptionist at the Stillaguamish Athletic Club in Arlington. A few years later she started working as a receptionist at the Northwest Veterinary Clinic in Arlington.

Beverly Rothrock was a committed part of the Marysville Strawberry Festival for 12 years, serving as chaperone and Queen Mother of the festival. She often traveled with the float on the parade route and convinced her family members to build their own float entries months before the children’s parade.

“She used to walk down the street in that little red jacket. I have many memories of that,” her daughter-in-law Jolynn Rothrock said. “Every year from the time my daughter was 1 to the time she was 12 they would have a float … when they won (the kid’s parade), she would push that float down Main Street.”

Beverly Rothrock took aerobic classes at the Marysville YMCA and helped lead children’s crafts. She volunteered to rock babies at Sherwood Community Services in Lake Stevens. She loved her grandchildren immensely.

“She called my daughter ‘Angel’ and my son her ‘Little Man,’” Jolynn Rothrock said. “Her life was dedicated to the fact she loved these two people more than any in the world. She would love to hear any stories about what they were doing.”

She attended their sporting events and baked Portuguese Easter bread with her granddaughter, using her family’s carefully guarded recipe.

When Beverly Rothrock was raising her own kids she couldn’t resist letting them go play outside if it snowed in the middle of the night. Her excitement for Christmas was evident when she and her husband arrived to celebrate Christmas morning before their grandchildren were even awake.

“She was just a happy person,” Jolynn said.

Beverly Rothrock was sick for several years and her back often bothered her, but she continued to teach craft projects to elementary students.

Gene Rothrock plans to continue to volunteer at the school in his wife’s memory.

“She got me into it,” he said. “I’ll continue on with her work.”

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491, adaybert@heraldnet.com.