Stella Odile Macy Gould died peacefully, holding hands with her daughters on June 1, 2022, at Martha & Mary Health & Rehab in Poulsbo, Washington. She was 95 years old.
Stella was born on Dec. 10, 1926, in Mobile, Alabama. Her father, Robert Clayton Macy, was 35, and her mother, Hope Marsten, was 38. As the middle child of five siblings, she loved her rollicking big family as she grew up. They relocated to Los Angeles, California when she was 3 years old, where her father had a hardware store in Hollywood, Calif. She met the love of her life, David Alfred Gould at a USO club in Los Angeles and they were married on March 24, 1946, when she was 19. They were married 56 years. She carried an infectious joy and zest for life and was a devoted wife and mother.
Stella and David had two daughters, Pamela Hope and Janette Elizabeth. Most of her married life was in Richmond Beach outside Seattle but her happiest days were in Tierra del Mar on the Oregon Coast, surrounded with friends, family and beaches to explore. Dave and Stella had adventures that took them from the bottom of the Anaconda copper mines in Montana to the end on the ALCAN Highway in the Arctic Circle.
Stella was profoundly optimistic, a talented seamstress, a devoted recycler, women’s rights advocate and lifelong Democrat (much to her husband’s chagrin).
Following David’s death in 2002, Stella became an active member of the community in Ferndale, Wash. In addition to her frequent trips with the senior center, she was a familiar character at the side of the road, doing her “litter patrol” for many years because she wanted to be of service. She would say, “I am always in my right place!” Words to live by. She moved to Port Townsend in 2010, settling at Seaport Landing where she offered mending and handcrafts to all the folks she met. Proud to be a regular at The Blue Moose Café each Saturday morning, she found joy in every day of her life.
She is survived by her daughters, Pamela Hope Gould (husband Ed Lowe), and Janette Elizabeth Gould Force (husband Robert Force); grandchildren, Dakotah Lewis Force, Sarah Hope Banner Perry, Austin David (Sam) Force and Benjamin David Banner. She has 10 great-grandchildren and friends too numerous to count!
While there will be no service, please do something unexpected and kind in her memory.
