Meady Bernice Ticknor

February 1, 1934 – June 8, 2023

Meady Bernice Ticknor, age 89, of Seattle, Washington, passed away Thursday, June 8, 2023, at St. Anne’s Hospital. Meady was an expert seamstress, in craft and in life, quilting together the fabric of her family, friends and West Seattle neighborhood as artfully as she embroidered, sewed, crocheted and stitched beautiful labors of love for her husband, three children, nine grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and many friends. Meady had a gift for making people feel special and loved. When in her presence, “you felt like the most important person,” one of her granddaughters recalled.

Meady was born on February 1, 1934, in Centralia, Washington, to Helen and Cecil Arrowsmith. She grew up on a dairy farm in Hanaford Valley and went to Centralia High School. There she met her husband Albert Bruce Ticknor Sr. at the high school candy shop where she worked. They wed on August 31, 1952, in Centralia and were married for 65 years until Albert passed away in April 2018.

Meady supported Albert while he served on the U.S. Naval Air Reserve and put himself through college in Centralia. They lived in Renton from 1957-1960 while he worked for Boeing. In 1960, they moved to Anchorage, Alaska, when Albert became a pilot for Pacific Northern Airlines. Meady told stories of adventure and fortitude raising three children in Anchorage shortly after Alaska became the 49th state. She would tell tales of children running around outside in the midnight sun, having picnics at McHugh Creek, taking family trips in their Cessna 170, riding Alaska’s first ever escalator at the midtown Caribou’s department store and scraping dried crème de menthe off the kitchen floor when their house was safe to return to after surviving the magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska earthquake of 1964.

In 1968, Meady and her family moved to West Seattle where she lived for the rest of her life. Meady was known as the matriarch of her neighborhood. During the COVID-19 pandemic they met weekly for tea — circling lawn chairs 6 feet apart in her driveway. Meady hosted yearly family reunions for many decades at the family farm in Rochester, Washington.

Meady loved beautiful things and always had her sitting room ready for guests, made up with lace tablecloths, framed photos of her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren and treasures from her travels. Meady was an avid seamstress and one of her favorite photos you would find in her front room was of all her grandchildren holding stuffed bears she had made one Christmas in the early 1990s. Meady and Albert traveled many states and across Canada in their fifth wheel trailer often taking grandkids along. She also travelled via cruise ships to Europe, the Panama Canal, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Russia and the Mediterranean.

Meady made friends everywhere. A regular at Nordstrom, for years she shopped and lunched at the café on Mondays, while Albert met with his aviation buddies at a nearby restaurant, staff and fellow patrons knew her by name. Meady kept treats for neighborhood dogs, and always had a full candy dish and cookies ready to offer visitors. She was an avid gardener, and her beautiful flower garden remains in full bloom this summer.

Meady is survived by her daughter Cecily and husband David; son Albert Junior and wife Debra; daughter Carol and husband Jim; granddaughters Jessica (husband Tom, daughter Lauren and son Ryan), Corine, Erin (son Justin), Annette (sons Davin and Raylin) and Sabrina (husband Ron, son Ron Jr. and daughters Lucy and Charlotte); and grandsons Matthew (wife Krista and sons Lucas and Conner), Bruce (wife Jonalynn) and Sean (daughter Lucy and son Kai). She is preceded in death by her husband Albert and grandson William.

Meady requested not to have a formal service. Neighbors will remember her at an informal driveway tea in the style of her pandemic tradition. Her ashes will be interned with Albert’s on their wedding anniversary, August 31.