Verna Shunk Pearson

1930 – 2020

Verna Shunk Pearson was born

on June 22, 1930 in Woodinville

to Anna Grace Calkins and

Henry Newberg. Verna grew up

in Woodinville and attended

Woodinville grade school and

Bothell High School before

moving with her family to

Lebanon, Oregon in 1947. She

graduated from Lebanon Union

High School in 1948. After

graduation, she moved back to Seattle in

1949 and worked and went to night school

until she married Jack F. Shunk in 1950. She

moved to Upper Preston in 1952 and lived

there until she succumbed to diffuse large B

cell lymphoma on May 7, 2020.

A gifted artist, community leader, and an

avid gardener, she was a lifetime member

of the North American Rock Garden Society,

Alpine Garden Society of England, and

Bothell High School Alumni Association.

She also belonged to the Washington Park

Arboretum, American Rhododendron

Society, American Daffodil Society, Eastside

Republican Club and more. She was a

wonderful wife and mother, the kind who

created a home so warm, welcoming and

fun that all the neighborhood kids wanted

to hang out there. Her eyes crinkled when

she laughed, she made the best gravy, she

bought herself chainsaws for her birthday,

and she gave terrific hugs. She

was fiercely independent but

devoted to her friends, her

family, Judge Judy and her

beautiful two-acre garden, which

she cultivated for almost seventy

years. Her optimism and selfreliance

allowed her to bloom

wherever life planted her.

Verna is preceded in death by her

first husband, Jack F. Shunk (1977), and her

second husband, Fritz P. Pearson (2002). She

is survived by her children Belinda (Craig)

Rone of Tacoma, Laura (Neil) Shorney

of Ballarat, Australia, Edward (Cara)

Shunk of Eastsound; her brothers Richard

(Sharon) Newberg of Willimina, Oregon,

Chuck (Kathy) Newberg of Snohomish,

Frank (Jaye) Newberg of Sedro Wooley;

her sisters Anna (Bob) Couture of Monroe,

Betty Schmitz of Ridgefield, Sharon Stripe

of Seattle, and Janet Young of Sultan; her

stepchildren Elizabeth (Bill) Schlicting of

Forks, Jeanne (Ben) Ray of Olympia, and

Phil (Kitty) Pearson of High Point; five

grandchildren; seven great grandchildren;

and a multitude of extended family members

who considered her to be their grandmother.

She will be greatly missed by all who had

the good fortune to know her. A celebration

of her incredible life will be held when the

COVID-19 situation allows.