Anne Mace

Anne (Barker) Mace
B. June 1931 D. January 2020

On the evening of January 3, 2020, Mrs. Anne Mace died suddenly in Sequim, WA. She was 88 years old, a widow and mother of six, a grandmother of 12 and great grandmother of 8.

Born in La Grande, Oregon, Anne was adopted by Guy and Erma Barker (Brown) who owned an 80-acre farm on the outskirts of nearby Cove, a community still without electricity where they lived for Anne's first 10 years. She had a happy and rich childhood with self-employed parents who raised dairy cows, pigs and produce that was traded and sold to survive the Great Depression. In this Christian home, the family was lean on modern conveniences, but rich in love. Anne thrived on following her father around to watch him tackle the challenges of working the farm and she especially enjoyed the illustrated adventure stories her mother read to her. She began to illustrate her own stories on newsprint roll-ends that would open the door to her imagination and creativity. Anne helped with many chores. She attended Cove School, a one-room rural institution that required a 3-mile round trip hike for her to attend, and later was bussed to a larger school in town to attend 3rd and 4th grade. Other highlights from childhood were special occasions with relatives, including grandparents who were early Oregon settlers. She loved her many animal friends, exploring the beautiful countryside and finding arrowheads.

In 1941, the Barkers sold the farm as Guy embarked on a career that involved frequent relocations throughout northern Oregon. They lived in Milton-Freewater, Parkdale, Hood River, and the Dunthtope area of Portland where Anne attended 5th and 6th grade at Riverdale School. Later the family moved to the coastal towns of Tillamook and Astoria.

During Anne's high school years the family settled in the then bustling port city of Astoria, Oregon. They lived on Grand Street above the downtown district where Anne worked as an usherette for the Liberty Theatre. She continued to develop her drawing and painting skills and was very involved in high school activities including band, theater (acting and set building) and journalism (yearbook and the school paper, Astor Post). In 1947 she received a Certificate of Award Honorable Mention for her "Salute to Astoria Week" Essay Contest conducted under the joint auspices of Astoria Public Schools, Astoria Chamber of Commerce and The Oregonian. Anne graduated from Astoria High School in 1949. She was named "outstanding history student" and was awarded a scholarship. Additionally, she was one of three Northwest students out of 20 applicants awarded the Entrance Scholarship 1949-50 from the Portland Museum Art School which she attended for one year.

Anne eventually earned a B.S. Degree in Elementary Education from Southern Oregon College of Education in Ashland, OR. It was there that she met her future husband, Richard "Dick" Mace. While at SOC, Anne was a member of the Future Teachers of America, served as President of the Student Body, was on staff for The Siskiyou, SOC's weekly paper of school events and she served as art manager and art editor for Raider, the college's annual yearbook. Anne married Richard in Febuary 1954 and continued her studies that spring, graduating in June of that year. The couple moved to Springfield, OR where Anne taught for several months until delivering her first child in 1955. From that point, Anne devoted most of her time to her new family.

From Springfield, Anne and Dick lived briefly in Prineville, OR where Dick taught. Later on, they moved to China Lake, CA, where Dick was employed at the Naval Weapons Center. During this time, Anne earned a Nursery Education Certificate through evening courses and two more children were born.

In 1961 Dick took a new job at Keyport Torpedo Station and the Mace family moved to a small 1920s era farm on Hallman Road near Poulsbo, WA where they had three more children and continued their life together until Dick's passing in the fall of 2016. Upon moving to the farm they planted fruit trees and grew a large vegetable garden every year. They raised chickens and sold eggs to local stores and neighbors. They also raised beef to help feed the family of eight. As a mother, Anne honed her domestic skills putting great effort into the preparation of made-from-scratch, well-balanced meals in an era where TV dinners and packaged foods were the rage. She baked bread, cookies and cakes, made jams, canned fruit and froze vegetables. She sewed and knitted and did amazing art projects in her spare time like carving and painting an old power pole into a totem pole for the entryway into their property. Anne made sure her children went to church to learn about God and Jesus Christ, but allowed them to form their own beliefs. Anne and Dick both encouraged their children to be individuals, while being honest and responsible for their actions. They stressed the importance of kindness to animals and respect for the Earth, and not to discriminate.

During the decades that Anne lived in Kitsap County, she was an active member of St. Paul's Episcopal in Port Gamble, St. Charles Episcopal Church in Poulsbo, and Faith Episcopal Church in Kingston and Poulsbo. As a member of these church communities, she helped plan Sunday school curriculum, was a resource person for teachers, researched and planned arts & crafts projects and was a Sunday school teacher. Anne loved reading the Bible and was involved in various study groups over the years. Among many other contributions to the church community, she painted booths for Viking Fest, where the church sold strawberry shortcake as a fundraiser, and Christmas nativity scenes for public display. Anne and Dick both helped produce the church newsletters.

At the age when many athletes hang up the glove, Anne became involved in women's slow-pitch and played into her 50s on teams sponsored by Central Valley Grange (Silverdale) and, in the latter years, Valley Nursery (Poulsbo). In the early to mid 1970s, Anne coached Peewee and middle school youth recreational soccer in Poulsbo. She coached youth recreational fast-pitch in mid 1980s.

Throughout her life Anne kept fit through eating well, plenty of outdoor exercise, jogging and taking long walks up into her 88th year. In the early 1960s Anne climbed Mount St. Helens. She was always an outdoor enthusiast and was profoundly inspired by the beauty of nature, which is reflected in her art. A longtime member of the Audubon Society, she enjoyed bird watching with the local chapter and contributing wildlife illustrations to their newsletter.

After her children were well on their way to adulthood, Anne began to focus more attention toward her personal interests. She attended classes at University of Washington to renew her teaching certificate. From there she taught for a few years in the early 1980s at Christ The King Academy in Poulsbo.

Anne graduated from Northwest College of Art & Design in 1985 and soon after started a home-based technical/graphic arts business, Mace Graphics & Illustration. For two decades she served the business community with logo and signage design work, business card, brochure and advertising graphic design and illustrations. She painted imaginative holiday window displays unique to each business from Poulsbo to Bremerton and for years illustrated the weekly cartoon strip "And Sassy Makes Three" written by Arlene Rowels which was published in local newspapers. For several years Anne provided illustrative work for World Impressions, Inc., a poster map and puzzle design company.

In the same era, she continued to refine her fine art drawing and painting skills and took classes in printmaking, watercolor, design and sculpture at Olympic Community College in Bremerton. In 1989 Anne designed and helped paint a 10' x 26' mural, "Peaceable Kingdom," on an outside wall in the early education playground at OCC.

Volunteering was always a part of Anne's life. For roughly three decades, she served as an art tutor for senior citizens residing at Martha & Mary Lutheran Services in Poulsbo, WA. Together with Dick, they tutored public school students for a number of years. For 50 years, Anne and Dick hosted an annual Labor Day Corn Roast Potluck for family, neighbors, church members and friends at their farm. It became an annual tradition for many. In the 1980's the Mace's began to plant their pastures with evergreens and soon started a casual Christmas tree business. Eventually, what trees were not sold filled-in their property making it a green space for wildlife.

In later years, Anne and Dick enjoyed traveling throughout the U.S. visiting family and friends, parks and historical sites. Anne loved America and practiced good citizenship throughout her life.

Anne's legacy lives on in her descendants. She is survived by her children (and their spouses) Katherine Mace, Jonathan (& Diana) Mace, Marian (& Chuck) Sizemore, Alan (& Carie) Mace, Elizabeth Monroy and Tim (& Sheri) Mace; her grandchildren Andrea and Norma Mace, Michael Salazar, Luke Mace, Lisa (& John) Campbell, Hayden (& Katie) Mace, Whitney, Emma and Hudson Monroy, and Ben and Aidan Mace. Anne was preceded in death by her granddaughter, Sarah Mace. She leaves behind eight great-grand children: Michela and Elizabeth Salazar, Emelio Tate, Charlie, Peter and Geoffrey Campbell, Quincy Wilson and Dean Mace, born less than two weeks prior to Anne's passing.

There will be a public Memorial Service at Faith Episcopal Church, 20295 Little Valley Rd., Poulsbo, WA, followed by a Celebration of Life on March 7th at 2:00pm. Visit www.lewischapel.com for updated information and to sign Anne's online guestbook. Or contact the church at 360-471-7522, Info@FaithPoulsbo.org, https://www.faithpoulsbo.org/. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Faith Episcopal Church, PO Box 1362, Poulsbo, WA 98370, EIN 91-0200430, or to the SARAH MACE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP, c/o Bend LaPine School District; Attn: Marcia Copple; 520 NW Wall St., Bend, OR 97701; Tax ID# 93-6000393.