Maria Aparecida Neuharth
October 7, 1943
February 10, 2022
Maria Aparecida Neuharth, age 78, passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 10, 2022, at her home in Sequim, Washington.
Maria was born on October 7, 1943, in the City of Mococa, São Paulo, Brazil, the second of eight children of João Marques de Araújo, a farmer of mestizo descent, and Ignes Benedita Lucri, a daughter of Italian immigrants. They led a simple life. Like her father, she married a child of immigrants, Muhammad Awad, a son of an Arab family, in 1964, and soon the young couple themselves, immigrated to the USA.
Amicably divorced a few years later, Maria chose to stay in California, become a citizen, and establish her own clothing sales business. Once she told her nephew and godson Fabricio Cristiano that she only earned $1 per pair of Levis but sold a thousand pairs a day. She gave him a piece of advice, which he has never forgotten: “Earn little, out of many.”
Always full of energy, it was while bustling around building up her business that Maria met another recent divorcee, Gene Neuharth. The two fell in love, married, and moved to Sequim in the early 1970s, Maria becoming a loving stepmother to Gene’s kids. Maria and Gene established the area’s first winery, Neuharth Winery, producing their first vintages in the late 1970s. They converted an old dairy barn just off Still Road southeast of town and made fine dinner wines where milk used to flow. In addition to running the business with Gene, Maria was often behind the bar in the tasting room, chatting with their guests and filling their glasses with Merlot, White Zinfandel, and their proprietary blends of Dungeness Red and White, created with grapes grown on the winery property. After Gene passed away in 1993, marking the saddest point in Maria’s life, she sold Neuharth Winery, which is now known as Olympic Cellars.
Maria was a resilient human being. She loved growing flowers (especially her beautiful roses), fruits and vegetables in her garden, cooking delicacies and sharing them, swimming, and walking – she put in literally hundreds of miles around Carrie Blake Park. She continued to work in a number of jobs and spend time with family and friends, such as Denise Parkwell and Bill Wood. Bill, her good neighbor and dear friend for many years, will miss Maria very much. So will Denise, who has daughterly love for Maria, and, as promised, stayed by her side until her final breath. With a strong faith in Jesus, Maria was a vital member of the Little Brown Church in Blyn for 48 years. Pastor Steve Devine, a close family friend since the 1970’s, describes her as an exuberantly grateful child of God, whether in good times or adverse passages in her life. She has been an excellent example of Heaven’s culture in human form.
Maria was preceded by Gene, her stepson Mike Neuharth and granddaughter Kristin Nichols, and is survived by her stepchildren Tim Neuharth of Courtland, CA, Jay Neuharth of Wheaton, IL, Amy Nichols and Pam Neuharth, of Tempe, AZ, as well as 25 grandchildren and great grandchildren, plus many, many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her siblings Silvia Helena de Araújo, João Vicente Sobrinho, Maria Lúcia de Araújo and Luiz Carlos de Araújo. Below is a tribute sent from Brazil.
“There are tears in our eyes as we write, her family in Brazil, formed by her brothers and sisters, in particular her sister Lúcia, who is suffering a lot from the idea of not being able to talk to her like she used to on most days. Lucia is Maria’s dearest sister, friend and confidant. And her nephews: Diná Malavase, Carlos Alberto Malavase, Célio Felício Malavase, Alberto de Araújo, Ricardo de Araújo, Ayrton Luiz Mei Filho and Fabricio Cristiano de Oliveira Andrade and also her grand-nephews: Letícia Hee Andrade and Davi Hee Andrade, we say goodbye to our beloved Maria. We say goodbye to her knowing that one day we will be together in our true home with our Father. And it is with a broken heart that we send our deep sadness for not being able to be present with you all at this time. But, we will be with you in our thoughts and prayers, spiritually present on this tribute for our dear sister, aunt, and great aunt. This is how we will forever remember our lovely Maria: an example of the joy of living!! A great friend! With her faith in God, she won many battles and comforted and warmed many hearts with her love. Her unforgettable smile will always be present in our memories.”
We will celebrate Maria’s life on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 1:00pm at The Little Brown Church of Blyn, 220 Zaccardo Rd, Sequim, Washington, 98382. Any inquiries may be directed to Pastor Steve Devine at (360) 461-0281.
Weston Waldron Haskell
March 20, 1928
March 4, 2022
Weston Haskell
WESTON HASKELL (WES) was born in the City of Orange Township, Essex County, New Jersey to Lena Edna Waldron and Raymond Arnold Haskell, whom he often fondly referred to as “Pop”. Being gifted with a brilliant mind, Wes became a dedicated student and, after attending Duke University, as an undergrad for 3 years, he went on to achieve a PHD in Petroleum Chemistry in 2 years at Princeton University. Wes served his country joining the regular army, based in Hawaii, from June 1946 to April 1949. He married Dorothea Gosnell “Kit” and they had two children “Cindy” and “Patrick”. Sadly they divorced in l963 and Weston re-married Diana Bremer in 1965, who gave him another son “Walter”.
Wes became a Research Scientist for Shell Oil Company and moved his entire family over to their depot in Chester, England, where they lived for 3 years. Wes continued to work for Shell in various States throughout the USA, spending most of his career in Houston, Texas. After 36 years, he retired in December l992. Wes then set up his own company named “Haskell Pharmaceuticals” and continued his passion for research. In 2005, Wes discovered that green pecan shucks contained an antiseptic property that could fight against MRSA which, undoubtedly, could save millions of lives in hospitals and on the battle field. Wes managed to obtain a grant of $40,000 for Methodist Hospital Lab Houston to conduct clinical trials on his discovery but, regrettably, he was not able to obtain further sponsorship from DARPA.
Ironically, Wes contracted this deadly infection during the last days of his life!
Weston had a vivid imagination and, during his retirement, he went on to write several part fictional books including “The Mendocino Chapter” and “An Interesting Companion”.
He also became President of the Art Society in Houston and was often invited to be a Judge at several Science and Engineering Fairs. In 20l5, at the age of 87, Wes re-married a British lady, living in Spain, named Kathryn Wilson. The couple moved to Sequim and had their wedding ceremony in the garden of their new home “Dreamland” in Highland Hills, this estate being built by the Bell family from Scotland. Co-incidentally, after marrying, they discovered that they both had Scottish heritage dating back to “Robert the Bruce”, who was the King of Scotland
during the l2th century. Consequently, the couple decided to name their newly adopted cat “Mr. Bruce”. Wes enjoyed traveling extensively with his younger wife to Spain, Alaska, Florida, California, Mexico, Hawaii and Canada, during the “golden years” of his life.
Being a water sign, Wes loved the sea and enjoyed many years sailing his yacht in Galveston Bay. The newly wed couple also joined the Sequim Bay Yacht Club and enjoyed sailing their jointly owned 32 ft yacht named “New Frontiers”. Wes was a great athlete and received several awards for swimming, enjoying other water sports like ski-ing and scuba diving.
Sadly, he died on 4th March, 2022, in Highland Court Nursing Home, Port Angeles, only 2 weeks from reaching his 94th birthday. Wes had been an avid jogger since the age of 26 and this physical fitness program surely contributed to his longevity. Wes was very sociable, fun loving, with an extremely young spirit behind his blue sparkling eyes, as well as heart of GOLD.
He will be sadly missed by all who knew him and is survived by two sons and four grandchildren. As he wanted to be cremated, his wife is going to ensure that he receives a full military honor’s burial at sea by the local Coastguards. MAY HE REST IN PEACE!
Clara “Ann” Taggart-Taylor
April 15, 1930
February 15, 2022
Clara “Ann” Taggart-Taylor
Clara “Ann” Taggart-Taylor, 91, passed away February 15, 2022, in Sequim, Washington, from natural causes.
Born April 15, 1930, in Denver, Colorado, Ann was the daughter of the late George Washington Powell and Ina Myrtle (Gadberry) Powell. She was preceded in death by her sister Norma Jean (Powell) Spencer; first husband Wilbur (John) Taggart, and second husband John Taylor. Ann is survived by her two sons Bruce (wife, Raquel) Taggart of Martinsburg, WV, and Mark Taggart of Portland, OR; grandchildren Valerie, Mark, and Joshua; three great grandchildren; niece, Bonnie (Spencer) Brown and nephew, William (Bill) Spencer Jr.
Ann spent her early childhood in Denver, Colorado, where her family had a general store before moving to Tri-Cities, Washington, during World War II. There she spent her teen years and attended the University of Washington 1948-1950. Ann married John Taggart in July 1951, moving to Anchorage, Alaska, in September of that year where they lived until 1975. During that time Ann raised a family, completed her BA in Humanities at Alaska Methodist University in 1964, and taught second grade at the Northern Lights Elementary School from 1967 to 1975 – a job which she dearly loved. Ann and John moved to Vashon Island, Washington, in 1975 to start a new chapter of their lives. John became ill and died in 1978. Ann subsequently returned to school receiving a certificate in drafting and went to work for the Boeing Company. She met her second husband John Taylor while working at Boeing and they married in 1991. John succumbed to a longstanding illness and died in 1993. Ann retired from Boeing in 1998, moving to Massachusetts for several years to spend time with her three grandchildren before moving to Sequim, Washington, in 2002, where she settled for the remainder of her life. Ann attended the Sequim Community Church and developed many close friendships during her time in Sequim.
Ann had a lifelong love of art and crafts. As an artist Ann painted numerous beautiful oils of Alaska which she sold at the Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage every year while living in Alaska. During her years in Sequim, she began painting watercolors of numerous local scenes throughout the area. As a quilter she crafted many beautiful quilts for family and friends and was a lifetime member of the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club of the Olympic Peninsula. Ann crocheted and tatted as well and loved freely teaching and sharing all her skills and knowledge with others. While in her early 80’s, she took great pride and honor in handcrafting and sewing a beautiful wedding dress for her only granddaughter.
Ann was a loving person and will be missed by those who knew her.
Whe-Whe Olitza
December 19, 1949 – February 6, 2022
Whe-Whe Olitza of the Reyes/MacGregor family passed into the realm of our ancestors on February 6th, 2022 at the age of 71.
A Celebration of a Life Lived will take place March 27, 2022 at 2:00 PM at the 7 Cedars Hotel.
Whe-Whe’s strong and generous spirit touched and helped many people on her journey.
Her rebellious inclinations were revealed early when, as a high school student, she organized the first peace march in Santa Monica, California in 1966.
A disrespect for rules sometimes caused her inconvenient consequences (parking was not her strong suit) but in her heart she carried on a life-long campaign against injustice and intolerance. She even drove across the US with her brother to protest with Standing Rock in 2015.
Moving to Sequim in 2006, she embraced her tribal identity, legally adopting her name nəxwsƛ’ay’əmúcən and choosing to spend the remainder of her years in her ancestral homelands.
She introduced her granddaughter to tribal customs and encouraged participation with the whole family.
After much consideration she chose her own time.
Memorial contributions in Whe-Whe’s memory may be made to any of here favorite charities, Vietnam Veterans of America, Breast Cancer Research Foundation or to Planned Parenthood.
Sequim Valley Funeral Chapel, (360) 683-5242, is honored to serve the family. Please visit our online register book at sequimvalleychapel.com to leave treasured memories for the family.
