Wrangell Sentinel -

Grace Margaret Sowle, 72, died on December 18, 2014 in Anchorage, just 5 short months after losing her husband of 30 years, Bob Sowle.

She was born on May 6, 1942 in Vancouver, Wash., the youngest of 13 children and the only child in her family to be born in a hospital. She graduated from Battle Ground High School in 1958.

Grace lived in Washington until she moved to Wrangell in 1980 with her husband Bob Sowle and her threee children. Grace worked for several years in the kitchen at Wrangell General Hospital. In the mid-80s, Bob and Grace moved out to Lab Bay where they spent many years enjoying their friends and the fun of crabbing and fishing right out their front door. Bob named their first boat after Grace.

The couple moved back to Wrangell in 1997. Together they started MS&S Construction Company where Bob was the laborer and Grace did the books. In the early 90s Bob and Grace purchased a home along the Zimovia Highway. She finally got her home with a view of the water and surrounding islands. She loved her home on the water and never failed to enjoy a beautiful sunset, taking hundreds of pictures over the years. Grace was blessed with a green thumb, growing just about everything. She was a canning specialist...preserving everything she grew, along with venison and salmon.

Grace had a great fondness for hummingbirds - her feeder was always full and busy - and she collected all things

hummingbird related. She also had a special talent for drawing and painting.

Grace was a member of the Emblem Club, The Red Hat Ladies, and a local group of girls who called themselves the "Lunch Bunch". The "Lunch Bunch" girls got together monthly either at someone's home or at a local restaurant to celebrate their birthdays.

She was preceded in death by her son, Ryan Miller;

husband, Bob Sowle; mother and father, Grace and Archie Coons; eight sisters, and four brothers.

She is survived by her sister, Dorothy Golf, Woodland, Wash.; daughter and son-in-law, Lyndel and Jim

Brady, Anchorage, Alaska; son and daughter-in-law, David and Joy Miller, Wrangell; step

children, Debbie and Richard Bates, Lebanon, Ore., and Mike and Jerrilee Sowle, Cloverdale, Ore.; 14 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren (with two more on the way), one great-great-grandchild, and numerous nephews and nieces.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm on Sat., Jan. 17 at Harbor Light Assembly of God in Wrangell. A graveside service will follow at Sunset Garden Cemetery, and a celebration of life will begin at 2:30pm at the Wrangell Elks Club.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests any memorial

contributions be made to the Wrangell Senior Center PO Box 1818 Wrangell, AK, 99929.