Seattle, Washington - Born on an Iowa farm in 1930, Mary Hammond joined the Army to see the world, and instead found a husband in Edward Golden. After the Army they moved to Illinois and raised five children there and in Everett, WA. She made many cross-country car trips on vacation with her large family, and accompanied Ed to China in the 1980s when he was a visiting professor at Anhui University, a place Americans did not commonly visit at that time. When her extended family chronically showed up late for Thanksgiving and Christmas, she hit on the brilliant scheme of serving all the pies first thing in the morning; after that everyone was prompt. "Pie first" is a family tradition now.

Mary, age 91, passed on Jan. 6 from cancer. Preceded in death by her husband Ed and son Joseph, she is survived by her sisters Barbara Mahan and Carol Pace, by her daughters Deborah Wieditz, Joanna Trefethen, Carolyn Golden-Jester, Susannah Haugen, and their families, including many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her family are grateful to the staff at the Queen Anne Manor for their loving care for three years.