Mary Diane Stuart VanMeter

August 12, 1941 - July 6, 2012

Mary Stuart Van Meter was born in Oklahoma City, August 20, 1941 to her parents Charles B. and Lois Stuart. She went to Edgemere grade school where she made lifelong friends, especially within her Brownie troop. They had their 65th reunion in Oklahoma City in March, of this year. What a celebration of friendship!! Her “Brownies” continued to support her throughout her illness and the challenges that it brought. Mary attended Randolf Macon College and Oklahoma University. She loved the outdoors, and camping was always an integral part of her leisure time. This started with Brownies and continued with summers spent at Camp Nakanawa in Tennessee. Mary met her husband, A.P., when they were 10 and 12 respectively. They enjoyed close to 52 years of marriage, (August 12, 1960). Mary was a wonderful mother and homemaker. Their marriage was blessed with three children, Diane, Kristine, and Michael. Mary took them all over Oklahoma to let them experience and learn from the many museums and historical points of interest. A.P.’s career took him to upstate New York, back to Oklahoma City, then eventually settling in the Seattle area in 1975. Mary designed two of their family homes, each magnificent. She always had a “knack” for numbers and started her own career as a bookkeeper. This began in OKC with “The Store of Sound”, a family owned business, and evolved into working as an accomplished accountant for several companies in the Seattle area. When she retired from those positions, she filled up her “down time” working for 10 non-profit groups as well as her church attending to their accounting needs. Mary loved music and began singing again with a choral group. She loved her music. Mary was very active with the Edmonds Historical Museum and helped found the Edmonds Summer Market. She was lovingly referred to as the “Mother of the Market”. Mary was recognized as Edmonds Citizen of The Year, in recognition of her many civic activities, in April 2012. As part of this recognition, she was given a “ride” in the Edmonds 4th of July parade. She summoned up enough energy and determination to ride in that parade waving an American flag, as high as she could, in true “Mary fashion”, one day before she passed. She had a contagious smile and an indomitable spirit. Mary is survived by her loving husband and companion, A.P. Van Meter, of nearly 52 years, her three children, Diane Flach, Kristine Bowman, and Michael Van Meter; 5 grandchildren, C.R. and, Katy Peterson, Daniel Flach, Jeremy and Abigail Van Meter; her brother John Stuart and her sister Ginny Hill. I’m sure  that Mary is with God and is leading a parade

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