Grace Elizabeth “Beth” was born to Floyd and Mary Galbreath in Wray, Colo., on April 14, 1920. In 1925 her family moved to Whidbey Island, where she lived for the rest of her life. Growing up she attended Woodland Hall Sunday School and lived her life according to the values she learned there.

Beth graduated from Langley High School in 1938. She married Wendell Thorsen on Sept. 29, 1938. They had four children and made their home on Brighton Beach in Clinton. They were married for 55 years, until Wendell passed away in 1993.

During the first part of their marriage Wendell shipped out as a Merchant Marine engineer and was gone sometimes for several months at a time. Beth raised their children on her own during those periods. One of her favorite things to do was to read to her children every day, passing on a love for reading to each of us. She was a Cub Scout den mother, a lifetime member of the Eastern Star and served as a Mother Advisor to the Rainbow Girls. She enjoyed knitting, sewing and crocheting for her family and for the patients at Children’s Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle.

During their retirement years, Beth and Wendell enjoyed fishing, hunting and traveling in their RV.

Beth was preceded in death by her parents and Wendell, as well as her sisters and their husbands, Ruth and Gust Skarberg, and June and Ben Schumacher; her brother and his wife, Robert and Evelyn Galbreath; her brother-in law and his wife, Henry and Myrtle Thorsen; and her daughter Marietta and her husband Len Nelson. She is survived by her children: Les (Dorothy) Thorsen, Jim (LaDonna) Thorsen and Sue (John) Keawe. She has also left behind nine grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, three great-great grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews and lifelong friends.

“Richer than I you can never be, I had a mother who read to me” — Strickland Gillian

She will be interred at Bayview Cemetery and a Celebration of Beth’s Life will be held at a later date.