Lu Caveness, 92, passed away Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 at Providence Hospital in Everett, Wash. She had resided in Greenbank, Wash., with her son Jim for the past three years after living in Oak Harbor, Wash., for many years.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Hank Caveness, and their son, Wayne.

Lu was born in Centralia, Wash., to Harold and Alta Faires on Oct. 13, 1928. She married a fellow Centralia resident, Henry Caveness on March 1, 1946. They raised four boys, Dale (Lesley), Wayne, Warren (Cheryl) and Jim in Alderwood Manor, Wash.

She devoted her life to her family. She was involved with her boys’ scouting and Troop 49 of Alderwood Manor. She loved to can and work in their garden and was amazing with needlework, particularly knitting and crochet. She had a knitting machine turning out garments for the entire family, including grandchildren. One of her grandchildren once said, “I bet if you gave Grandma a ball of steel wool, she could crochet a carburetor!”

She worked with special needs children at Hazelwood Elementary near her home in Alderwood Manor, learning ASL and teaching it. She became the “first mate” on the sailboat she and Hank purchased in the late 1970s and made it their home. They sailed to Hawaii and back. In the late 1980s, they built a home on the water in Oak Harbor, where they resided until Hank’s passing in 2016.

Lu was also preceded in death by her siblings, Don Faires, Virginia (Bob) Fothergill, Kenny Faires, Glenn (Pat) Faires, of Longview, and Vi (Roy) Gehrman, of Centralia. She is survived by 11 grandchildren, 22 great children and three great-great grandchildren.

No services are being held.