Lucille Ann Stovel, 91, died Dec. 8, 2009, with her children Luana and Jim holding her hands and her daughter Kathleen by her side in spirit.

"Of the many gifts she gave to her family and friends over the 91 years of her life, her beautiful, peaceful death was the greatest of them all," her family said.

Her ashes will be interred with her husband and her mother at Oceanview Cemetery in Port Angeles. A memorial gathering is at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009, at South Peninsula Hospital Long Term Care.

Lucille was born on May 7, 1918, in San Bernardino, Calif. She was the youngest of 10 children of Glenn and Annie Fraim Padgett. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in secretarial classes and soon began her lengthy work career. She met Harvard Stovel, 19 years her senior, in Los Angeles in 1937 and they married in 1941. Their first daughter, Kathleen, was born in California in 1943.

In 1944 the Stovel family left city life for a farm west of Port Angeles, Wash., where they lived without most of the modern conveniences. She quickly learned to sew, can foods, raise animals, tend a garden and live what could now be called an Alaska lifestyle. She excelled at everything to which she turned her attention. Their second daughter, Luana, was born in Port Angeles in 1949. In March of 1954, Harvard Stovel died unexpectedly at the age of 54.

Widowed at 35, Lucille moved her children to Port Angeles and volunteered at Olympic Memorial Hospital. Over her 44-year career there, she went from volunteer to associate administrator, a position she held until her retirement in 1986. She was proud to have been honored in 1985 by having the newest wing of the hospital named The Lucille A. Stovel Memorial Tower.

"She accomplished much while raising two children as a single parent and caring for her mother until her death in 1966. Lucille had deep and abiding faith, was a tireless worker, an avid gardener, an accomplished seamstress and tailor, a loyal and loving friend and was beloved by all who knew her. Her sense of humor was one of her finest attributes, and oh how she loved to dance. She knew how to have fun," her family said.

In 1998 Lucille moved to Homer to be nearer her daughter and son-in-law. She lived first at Friendship Terrace and finally at South Peninsula Hospital's Long Term Care facility. Lucy, as she was affectionately known, was the beneficiary of exemplary care and much love in her many years in Homer. She will be deeply missed but never forgotten. Her children feel blessed to have had "the best mother in the world."

"She taught us all by example that integrity comes from a life well lived. Now she dances with her husband and the rest of her family in a much better place," her family said.

Lucille was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and her nine siblings, as well as her favorite niece, Patty Spann.

She leaves behind her daughter, Kathleen Stovel of Los Angeles; her daughter and son-in-law, Luana Stovel and Jim Roe, of Homer; and many nieces and nephews, as well as her "grandson" Brook Heckman of Washington State.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Olympic Memorial Hospital Foundation, 939 Caroline Street, Port Angeles, WA 98362 or to the South Peninsula Hospital Long Term Care Activities Fund, 4300 Bartlett Street, Homer, AK 99603. Her family said they would welcome remembrances of their mother; they can be sent to luana@bodett.com or to 4255 Pleasant Way, Homer, AK 99603.