Obituary of Mary Ellen Cashman

Mary Ellen Cashman was born in Olympia Washington on April 19, 1937. She passed away on May 30, 2021, in Vancouver, Washington from heart failure. She was 84 years old. Her parents were Charles Stewart, and mother Violet (Sage) Stewart, brothers: Jerry, Robert, Tony and sisters: Clara, Linda, Maxine and Vivian. Mary grew up in Olympia Washington and lived there until she married. Mary became interested in the bible about age 14 and became baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses at age 17. After graduating from Olympia High School in 1955 she began working for the State of Washington in a typing pool. To dedicate more time volunteering in the work of furthering bible education, she became the first person to secure a job-sharing opportunity with the State of Washington. Mary met her husband Joe Cashman in 1957 in Olympia and was married in 1959 at age 22. She had 4 children, Joe, Robert, Tracy, and Steven. She was a tremendous support to Joe and they were married for 51 years until his passing in 2010. Joe and Mary lived in many places in Washington State, including California and Oregon. They also lived in American Samoa during the early 1970’s for 3 years. Joe called her “Mary Grass-seed” because just as they settled in one place and the grass she planted started to look nice, they would move again. She took all of this in stride, and she looked at each move with a positive attitude and as a new adventure. She instilled a love of travel and of other cultures with all her children. They most often lived in the Skykomish Valley and moved to Vancouver in 2008 to be near family. Mary and Joe traveled all over the world. She has been to Russia, France, England, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Hawaii, American and Western Samoa, Tahiti, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Mary loved people and enjoyed talking with them. She would take every opportunity to engage the people she met in conversation. She made friends easily and maintained many lifelong friendships over decades. Mary was a lover of books and always encouraged her children to read as well. Wherever she lived she had a library card. Her favorite book was the bible and she read it through many times. She felt that the knowledge in it could change your life and give it meaning and purpose. She had a close relationship with God and that was the most important thing to her and defined who she was. Mary is survived by her sister Maxine Lucas. Her children Joe and wife Medea Cashman, Tracy and husband Eric Woods, Steven and wife Brynne Cashman. Her son Robert recently passed away and leaves wife Yolene Cashman. Mary is also survived by six grandchildren: Reid, Tessa, Andrue, Jessica, Nicole, and Eric. Mary is survived by many friends but especially so by Lorrie Perkins who has been her close friend for 70 years. The family would like to express our gratitude for the many friends who reached out to Mary during this past year of isolation and solitude caused by the pandemic. Your cards and letters were of comfort and joy to her. She read and re-read them many times and appreciated them immensely. There will be an online memorial service for Mary on June 26, 2021, at 11:00 am PST. Join Zoom Meeting with Meeting ID: 824 3331 0741 Passcode: 920775 or One tap mobile +12532158782,,82433310741#,,,,*920775# US (Tacoma) +13462487799,,82433310741#,,,,*920775# US (Houston) Meeting will be open to public at 10:30 A.M. PDT If you need more information or help with connecting, please contact Tracy Woods eandtwoods@juno.com 360 607 1417