Barbara Janice Stamey (Janice) passed away peacefully on January 15, 2021 in Seattle, WA, nine days after her 94th birthday. She was born in Seattle on January 6, 1927 to parents of Norwegian heritage, Conrad Sofus and Hannah (Sponheim) Knudsen, who owned a variety store and soda fountain at 8808 Aurora Avenue North where the family also lived. In those days, Aurora Avenue was just a gravel road and Janice would walk to swim in Green Lake.
She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1945 and from the University of Washington (UW) with a B.A. in Music and English in 1948. In 1949, she completed a fifth-year teaching certificate and organ performance major under the renowned UW Professor Walter Eichinger. Janice grew up in Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church where she was confirmed and was married to Arthur F. Stamey (Art) on December 28, 1951. When they moved to the Hearthstone in 2013, they returned to Phinney Ridge Lutheran, after being members of Trinity Lutheran Church of Lynnwood for nearly 60 years.
Music was always a big part of Janice’s life, starting with the piano, then as an organ student at the UW. She began her career as a music teacher in Hawaii at the Kamehameha School for Girls, then in the Shoreline and Seattle Public Schools. When Art began his Lynnwood dental practice in the early 1950’s, they moved to Edmonds and Janice began her 32+ year career as organist at Trinity Lutheran Church. She was instrumental in the church’s choices and installations of two beautiful pipe organs, the first being destroyed by the tragic 1992 arson and the second being the current famed Pasi organ.
Janice’s love of music and support of musicians was unfaltering. Through her role as church organist, she frequently went out of her way to feature student musicians. She and Art were devoted supporters of Cascade Symphony Orchestra in Edmonds, UW’s Meany Hall President’s Piano Series and the Seattle Symphony. She continued to attend and enjoy live performances up until last year.
Janice genuinely loved life and adventure. In 1970, the family of seven moved to Meylan, France (near Grenoble) and lived in a chateau while the children attended French public schools. Over the course of a year, the family explored Europe in a Volkswagen camper, traveling from as far north as Trondheim, Norway and as far south as Olympia, Greece, with many adventures in between. In retirement, she and Art traveled extensively, often returning to France, which held a special place in their hearts. It was there that Janice embraced the world of French food and cooking. She always had a knack for spontaneously creating delectable meals from whatever ingredients she had in her refrigerator or freezer, a testament to her no-waste philosophy. Janice was an environmentalist long before most, going so far as to save water from her kitchen sink for her garden, already drenched by winter’s rains.
She was known for her warm hospitality, hearty home-made bread (which she regularly shared with neighbors), green thumb, creative knitting, and keen thrift shopper’s eye. Her children and grandchildren will always cherish how she made birthdays and holidays special, with many traditional Norwegian recipes, like klub (potato dumplings) and krumkake.
Janice loved dancing, tennis, and swimming in her beloved Puget Sound, which she did through age 92. In addition, for years, she and friends shared early morning swims at various local pools such as the Yost Pool in Edmonds. These swims were always followed by a daily cappuccino at The Red Twig café, a tradition dating as far back as the early 1980’s when it was the well-known Brusseau’s café.
Most of all, though, Janice was known for her kindness toward all, never shying away from reaching out to someone in need of a loving hand or kind word. She opened her home and dining room to people from all walks of life and from all over the world, including many foreign students who became extended family members, thanks in part to the UW’s Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS).
Janice was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Art (2016), and by her sister Virginia Falk (2006). She is survived by children Joan Cottingham (Dave), Virginia Stamey-Johnson (Dale Johnson), Sara Stamey (Winston Saunders), Alison Stamey (W.C. Twig Mills), and Paul Stamey (Deborah), and by grandchildren Chris and Matthew Cottingham, Alison (Austin Oehlerking) and Samuel Saunders, Arthur Stamey-Mills, Alexander and Graham Stamey, and by great-grandson Louis Arthur Saunders Oehlerking.
Janice’s ashes will be interred with those of Art in a private family ceremony at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church. A celebration of her life will be scheduled at a future date.
The Stamey family is grateful for the love and care provided to Janice by Crown Hill Senior Care Home and by the companions who assisted her while she was at the Hearthstone. We are also thankful to the many friends and family who connected with her during these last few years.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Janice’s memory can be made to: The Association of Lutheran Church Musicians’ Norma Aamodt-Nelson Student Scholar Fund (810 Freeman Street, Valparaiso, IN 46383 or at ALCM.org/make-a-donation/), Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church (7500 Greenwood Ave N., Seattle, WA 98103 or at PRLC.org/giving), and to UW’s Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS-University of Washington, Box 355855, Seattle, WA 98195 or at engage.FIUTS.org/FIUTS-donate).
Our mother touched the lives of many; we welcome your remembrances in the online guestbook below.