Milestones

100th Birthday

Gay

Blanche Gay of Marysville will celebrate her 100th birthday at a potluck gathering on May 16.

She was born in Paris, Ill. on May 16, 1910, to Mark Rowe and Jessie Davidson. She moved to Marysville when she was still a toddler with her mother and her older brother, George.

Growing up, Gay defended anyone who was being wronged and has many tales of rescue. When presented with the opportunity, she jumped at the chance to help at an Everett hotel owned by a family member.

She met her future husband, John Francisco, while working at the hotel. They had three children.

During the Great Depression, she left her husband and lived with her three children in downtown Everett. She later married Cliff Gay and began a new life on his farm in Marysville.

The couple eventually sold the farm and moved to Coos Bay, Ore. They later moved to Enumclaw where they resided for more than 35 years.

In Enumclaw, Gay took a job working at the Rainier State School. At age 50, she accomplished her dream of becoming a beautician and went to work in a shop in downtown Enumclaw. She later owned her own shop and twisted curls and cut hair into her 90s.

The couple stayed active in Enumclaw, maintaining a home, and visiting friends and family. They belonged to the Masons and Eastern Star. When her husband suffered a stroke, Gay decided it was time to be closer to family and so in 1985 they moved back to Marysville.

Gay had eight siblings. She has two surviving sisters, Verla Bailey in Marysville and Ila Bayha in Santa Barbara, Calif. with whom she visits and exchanges letters.

She had two daughters, Carol Atkinson of Skykomish and Sharon Peach of Everett. Her son John (Jack) Francisco lives in Anchorage, Alaska. She has many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.

Her friends and family can RSVP to the birthday celebration by contacting Maritza at 425-772-5606 or by e-mail at summeritz76@gmail.com.

Retirement

Logan

Washington State Community Corrections officer Ron Logan officially retired on April 1 in Marysville after a 20-year career with the Department of Corrections. His last day of work was March 31.

He has been married to Sheila Logan for the past 26 years. He has three adult children: Anthony, Yvette, and Nicole, and 10 grandchildren. He’s an active member of his church, volunteers in domestic violence, community service officer and many other endeavors. He supported his co-workers and team members at every opportunity, including donating sick time hours for his fellow employees.

Logan worked first in the prison system, then in community corrections. He began his tenure in community supervision as a community correction officer I in the Seattle Pre-Sentence Unit. There he completed background investigations on adult felons convicted of sexual and violent crimes and made confinement and treatment recommendations to the court.

He later transferred to the Seattle Day Reporting Center where he helped to develop and refine the first day reporting center in the state. The focus of this facility was rehabilitation and required extensive one on one counseling with clients.

Logan was then promoted through the ranks and became a community corrections officer III. He was urged by management to promote into administrative positions but he chose to remain in jobs where he could work directly with the offenders.

As a community corrections officer III, Logan was responsible for helping train new community correction officers. He was the lead officer for two other community correction officers II, managed a caseload of high risk offenders, and held the responsibility for the Community Involvement program at the Marysville office.

Logan’s shield was retired at a retirement celebration on Saturday at the Holiday Inn in Everett.

Karen Bammer, community corrections supervisor; Carl Gipson, former Everett city councilman; pastor Charlie Jackson, Barrie Maxie, retired correctional program manager; and Diane Young, retired community corrections supervisor, spoke at the event. Sheriff John Lovick also attended.