Farewell
Sharon Caldwell’s story starts on August 28, 1942. The oldest child to Clint and Helen Linder, Sharon spent her childhood, grew-up, and made lifelong friends in Kirkland, Washington. She was a proud graduate of Lake Washington High School. After graduation, she attended Washington State University where she became a die-hard Cougar fan.
She met the love of her life, Dave, married and moved to North Bend, Washington. Like her husband, Sharon worked and retired from Puget Power where she made long-lasting friends. An avid sports fan, Sharon spent decades playing and coaching soccer and softball. Her good natured joking earned her the nickname, Mock, for mockingbird. Mock inspired generations of athletes who have fond memories of piling into the, Mockmobile, for games across the state.
Golf was a enormous part of Sharon’s life. If she wasn’t walking a golf course, she was planning golf tournaments. Sharon’s involvement in the golf community was impressive. Her infectious smile and level headed nature made her an enjoyable golf partner. Her friends will attest that her crazy antics on and off of the golf course made Sharon a one-of-a-kind golfer.
Sharon was preceded in death by her husband, David J. Caldwell. She is survived by her two brothers Robert (Pauline) Linder, Ken (Sharon) Linder, her favorite son, David Caldwell, and his wife Trina, her daughter Kristen Ward, and her husband, Jeff, and her three grandchildren, Skylar, Kai, and Allison.
Your webmaster found this obit while searching for information for a history of Brookdale golf course for TWGA. Joan Mahon was the 1936 Champion of the WSWPLA naming Meadow Park as her home course. The fullreport of the Brookdale history is on the TWGA website at
http://twga.org/PDF/mahon%20brochure%20not%20trifold.pdf
Joan Mary Mahon Allard Born August 12, 1918 to Christopher F and Mary (Dudley) Mahon in Seattle, WA, she passed away May 5th, 2008, having lived 89 good years. Spending her early years around Green Lake, her family moved to Brookdale Golf Course in Parkland, WA where, at 14 years old, she took up the game of golf. She became an award winning golfer including Women’s State Champion at 17 and holds several course records. After graduating from Lincoln High School, she met and married her husband, Robert H. Allard in 1939. They had two boys, Robert Peter and Roger Lee. She was a member of Bethany Open Bible Church for many years. Joan was an accomplished artist whose paintings adorn the walls of many golf course club houses, banks, and homes around the Pacific Northwest.
The following is from a report found on the web about Clover Creek: Joan “remembers coming down to the farm and being around the creek and especially remembers during the summertime her father catching large messes of trout about 12 inches long. They always had plenty of trout to eat after a trip to Parkland. Her father managed the Brookdale Golf Course that was built in 1930 and her mother ran the restaurant in the clubhouse that was built in 1932. She remembers in 1933 and 1934 steelhead coming up by the clubhouse (January or February). She remembers that the North Fork would dry up by late June, especially around 1932. The golf course was all hops between the 1st and the 18th holes.”
Mt Si Ladies Club announces with great sadness the passing of our dear friend Sheila Croasdill on February 5 2014. Sheila was a member of our club for more than twenty years. She held many different positions on the Board and volunteered for other jobs throughout the years. She was actively involved in the Mt Si ladies club until last year when her illness forced her to stop golfing. She also volunteered for Board positions in the GSWPGA and was past President of WSWPLA. She participated in tournaments at our club, City and State and was also a tough competitor on Team. Golfing with Sheila was always fun – if you played in her foursome (or around her tee time) you usually put a dollar into the pot – she always wanted to have a side game. She was a kind and generous person who included newcomers into her circle. She had many friends in the golfing community and is fondly remembered by them. We at Mt Si will truly miss our dear friend.
Below is selection from Obituary from Flintoff’s funeral home.
Our beloved mother, Sheila Rae Croasdill, was born in Parsons, KS January 13, 1938. She graduated from Labette County High School in Altamont, KS in 1955 and attended IBM school in Omaha, NE before moving to the Pacific Northwest to stay with extended family. She found employment at Boeing where she met John Croasdill, her husband of 54 years. Together, they adopted five children and raised them in Bellevue, WA. She was an active member of the community having joined numerous organizations over the years including a bowling league, softball league, Mt. Si Ladies Golf Club, bridge club and Mah Jongg group.
In addition, she was very involved with her faith community of St. Louise Parish having been a charter member and where her final journey ended on February 5th 2014 and her spirit went forth to be with her creator. Sheila had a beautiful generous spirit and engaging personality making her easily approachable to friends and strangers alike. She will be dearly missed. Sheila volunteered as a foster mother through Catholic Children Services and is especially fond of this organization as she was blessed with five children through them.
Jan 19, 2014
“A last goodbye to a friend”
Our dear friend,
when we went outside last night,
we saw a star burning ever so bright,
we knew you had left this earth to go up above,
to rest in peace and have eternal Love.
But the memories of our days together,
Will stay deep inside our hearts forever.
Excerpts taken from a poem by Author: chez 49
It is so sad to know that Geri is gone. She was always cheerful, never complaining and never critical. She had the rare talent to not just get along but make everyone feel that they were a friend. She had a great sense of humor, joined in all the games, loved to shop and join in the fun. We will all miss her and always remember her fondly. I have run the Ocean Shores Ladies Classic Golf Tournament for 15 years. Geri had been a regular for a number of those. I always enjoyed her presence, she always had a cheerful demeanor, and was a good cheerleader for us and our tournament.
Geri was always very kind and patient with me especially when I hit one of my wacky shots. I loved her wonderful sense of humor. Maybe she will be riding around in that convertible she always wanted in heaven. I’d like to think so. I have known Geri for many years. What a good golfer she was! I always appreciated her knowledge of and her use of the Rules of Golf. Although she was a very private person, she always had a ready and warm smile as she greeted you. Geri, you will be missed.
If you happened to share a room with Geri, you’ll probably have the same memory that I do. She was a champion when it came to snoring. She could snore loud enough to rattle the windows in the room. She is the only person I know who could snore right through a nasal strip. She loved, family, friends, golf, happy hour and hot spicy food, hot enough to melt the spikes in your golf shoes. She was a great lady and I cherish the time and memories we shared.
Being Geri’s friend and neighbor for so long was a great blessing. We shared rides to TWGA and WSWPLA tournaments many times. We joined Oakbrook together, rode together, and played together. I’ll miss her friendship as well as her companionship
What a wonderful friend! Geri was my rock for keeping my cool. She never let the minusha affect the reality. A true solid even tempered no nonsense friend. There are so many memories of fun golf games and trips away to STATE and TWGA. Rooming together on away trips was always a kick. There always seemed to be a great bottle of red wine to consume which always led to fun in the pool or work- out room . One time it even ended with a bubble blowing contest among the stair climbers and treadmills. YOU HAD TO BE THERE.
GERI rarely had anything bad to say ABOUT ANY BODY OR ANYTHING. She handled the loss of her mother, father, brother and her husband with grace and utmost care for each of them during the last three years. I am just sorry she didn’t have more time to enjoy more carefree time to herself this past year. If anyone deserved it she certainly did. I will miss my friend in the early AM mist on the first tee at Whispering Firs. Hopefully I can be a better friend to all those I come in contact with by knowing the example she set for all of us. Enjoy a pain free carefree heaven.
11/24/2013: It is with deep sadness that we at the Port Gardner Women’s Golf Club have to announce that Marilyn Douglas 
passed away Tuesday November 19. Earlier this year, Marilyn was diagnosed with MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome), a disease affecting the development of blood cells. She has been a long standing member of Port Gardner Ladies club at Legion since the mid-90’s and has served on many board, committee and trustee positions.
Prior to joining Legion, Marilyn was a long time member of Kenwanda Golf Course in Snohomish. She participated in and won many county, state and invitational tournaments throughout her golfing years. If you were in a foursome with her, you saw a calm, steady and consistent golfer; a good one as well. Many of you long time participants of the WSWPLA tournaments will remember her, as she was a very active player up until this past summer.
From the Everett Herald: Marilyn Douglas, 78, loving wife, mom, grandma, sister and friend passed away on November 19, 2013 after a short battle with cancer. She volunteered at the USO, one of her first jobs was as a florist at Ballard Blossom where she worked for many years, then secretary working for various companies, spending the last eight years of her career working at NCR with her husband until they both retired. She and her husband of 54 years raised two children. Her joy was her family and friends, which included family vacations, gardening, motor homing, and golf (member of Legion Memorial Golf Ladies club for many years). Marilyn is preceded in death by her brother, Robert Jessen; and sister, Ruth Jessen. She is survived by her husband, Everett; children, Tracy (Mike) Walrath, Brad (Chris) Douglas; grandchildren, Aaron, Ashley, Kyle, Delaney; sister, Sharon (Floyd) Ivester; brother, J. Wayne Jessen; and many nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to First Tee (thefirsttee.org).
DELORES SUDS SUTHERLAND
Born in Sumner, WA on May 29, 1932 and passed away at home on March, 12, 2013 in Everett, WA. Suds graduated from Stadium HS, Tacoma, WA, then earned her BS from UW. After teaching in Eatonville, then Stanwood, she began her years at Everett HS coaching women’s tennis and basketball. She retired in 1984, then took up golfing and loved every minute of it.
She was predeceased by her parents, Hannes A 
. Sutherland, and Grace E. Clerget Sutherland.
She is survived by brother, Ed (Trudy) Sutherland; sister, Margaret (Sid Cone) Rickett; niece, Linda (Bill) Pixler; nephews, Glenn Rickett, Steve Sutherland and Mike Sutherland; as well as many cousins. During the past few years Delores battled lymphoma. She was strong and wouldn’t let it stop her from her favorite pastime – golf, as well as gardening, clamming and traveling to golf tournaments. Suds was blessed with many friends through coaching and golfing. She was well-known for her sportsmanship, her wit and unique personality. A “Celebration of Life” will be held at 3:00 p.m. on April 6, 2013 at Legion Golf Course, Everett. Everyone is welcome. A family gathering will be held at a later date. A special thank you to Laraine Taplin and Linda Miller for “being there” for Suds. Delores, you are loved and will be deeply missed by many.
Beginning in 1974, Sutherland was the first varsity girls basketball coach at Everett High School, and in a decade-long tenure she churned out championship teams and top college prospects. She took the game seriously and expected the same of her players, and the result was a program that became a Western Conference powerhouse. Under Sutherland, the Seagulls went to multiple state tournaments, including two runner-up finishes. “We were really, really fortunate (to have played for her),” former player Jo Metzger-Levin said of Sutherland, who died last week at age 80. “But I don’t think we realized it until after we were done. It wasn’t until we’d graduated and gone on to college that we knew what we’d had. “She was just an amazing person. She was very intense about her coaching and she got the most out of people.” Scoffing at the notion that girls were dainty things that needed special care, Sutherland preached toughness while disdaining excuses. “She was a hard-nosed coach who wouldn’t put up with anything,” said Metzger-Levin, who went from Everett to an All-American career at Western Washington University. “If you were complaining that you had a sore knee or a sore ankle or a sore finger, she’d tell you to go sit in the corner and hold it, and then when you felt better you could come back out. “She was very demanding, but in her own way she was also very sensitive to your needs.”
Early in Sutherland’s high school teaching career, girls did not compete at the varsity level. They played on something akin to club teams, which is when Sutherland took up coaching, beginning with tennis. “What a wonderful coach she was,” said B.J. Larimer, a longtime colleague at the high school. “And she was certainly a pioneer (in girls coaching). She had a wonderful rapport with her students and with her team members, and she was certainly very knowledgeable about her sports.” “She loved coaching,” added Merrilie Howard, another fellow teacher and coach at the high school. “And she was very good at it, too. I always felt she should’ve stuck around a little longer because she was so good at it.
“But she discovered golf and then she made me hurry up and get old so I could play golf (with her),” Howard added with a laugh.Sutherland, who was widely known by her nickname of Suds, retired from teaching in 1982 and then coaching in 1983. She was succeeded by Metzger-Levin, but later returned as an assistant coach under her onetime star player.
“She was my assistant and it was a wonderful experience,” Metzger-Levin said. “She just had a way with kids, and they really liked her and liked her humor.”In her retirement, Sutherland became an avid golfer and a longtime member of the Port Gardner Ladies Club at Everett’s Legion Memorial Golf Course. During the golfing season, “I don’t think she ever missed a Tuesday or a Thursday (when the club had its regular bi-weekly matches),” Howard said. “She just loved golf.”
Sutherland was diagnosed with lymphoma several years ago, and as her health declined in recent years “she could no longer walk the course, which she’d always done,” Larimer said. “So she rode in the cart, and then she had to take her oxygen with her. But that just shows how much she loved it. And if she’d passed away on the 18th hole, I think that would’ve made her happy.”Sutherland made it known that she did not want a funeral or memorial service, but friends are planning a “Celebration of Life” at 3 p.m. on April 6 at Legion Memorial GC. The public is invited. “She touched so many lives,” Metzger-Levin said. “She was a very special lady who gave her life to women and to sports.”
BETTY CRIDER Born 1929, Passed away October 2012. Shortly after graduating from high school, she married Jack Crider and togeter they enjoyed 62 years of marriage until his passing. Betty worked in various positions for the City before her retirement. Golf was her favorite pastime. Betty is survived by her daughter Rita Wilson (Bill), sons Ron Crider, Gary Crider (Mary), Craig Crider (Toni), 5 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. Services for Betty Crider will be Friday the 26th of October at 12 PM at Evergreen Washelli, 11111 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle. Following the services there will be a celebration of life in the reception room at the cemetery. Please make memorials in her name to American Cancer Society or the Alzheimer Association.
Carole J. HOLLAND, 72, of Kent WA died November 25, 2009, of complications from pancreatic cancer. Carol Holland was the 1977 champion of the WSWPLA. That year the event was held at Suntides. She became a successful amateur golfer, winning many city,state and club champion ships. Carole will be remembered for her love of life…good books, movies, music, art, laughter, the Mariners, family and friends and especially GOLF! Carole is survived by her son Mark Holland and his wife Jennie, of Edmonds WA. and her daughter Anne Gagliano and her husband Mike, and their sons Michael and Rick, of Stanwood, WA. Remembrances are suggested to Evans Scholarship Fund in Carole’s honor, PNGA, 1010 South 336th St. Suite 310, Federal Way, WA, 98003.
It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the untimely passing of Kristine Trulson on March 4, 2008. She was spending time in her beloved second home in Mau when she became extremely ill and was hospitalized with a viral infection and pneumnia. There are no words to express our sorrow and our loss. Kristine became a member of the Bellevue Women’s Golf Club in 2000. She routinely played in GSWPGA and WSWPLA Tournaments and see will be fondly remembered by her spirit and friendly nature.
Goodbye Pat Retelle, We are all saddened by the passing on October 18, 2007, of ourgoodfriend and fellow golfer, Pat Retelle, after a long battle with cancer. Pat was a very active member of the Bellevue Women’s Golf Club, serving as trustee and treasurer. She actively participated in City and State Sweeps and served on the Board for both the GSWPGA and WSWPLA.. She was always willing to pitch in and help with whatever anyone asked of her or when something needed to get done. Her infectious laugh could be heard all over the golf course. We will miss her very much.