Hazel Hodgen of East Wenatchee, WA, passed away at age 98, on October 26,
2016, at Central Washington Hospital of natural causes. She was born December
12, 1917, in Hibbing, MN, to Earl and Margie Thomas, the oldest of six
children.
She was married to Harold Edmunds in 1935 and they had five children. They
lived in Manson, WA, for a number of years and later divorced. She later lived
in Chelan and owned and operated the bowling alley on Woodin Avenue for
several years. She went to work in 1960 at the Chelan office of the U.S.
Forest Service. She married Walt Hodgen and they later moved to Hayward, CA,
where she worked for the Forest Service in San Francisco for several years,
until moving to Seattle, where she retired from the Forest Service in 1976.
She and Walt were “snow birds” for several years, spending winters in Arizona
and California, and summers in Post Falls, ID, with her son, Mick, and his
daughters. Hazel lived in Coeur d’Alene, ID, until moving to East Wenatchee,
WA, in 2006, to be closer to her family and after her son moved to Costa Rica.
She is survived by daughters: Patricia McClellan (Don), Jackie McGuire
(Marshall); son, Gene Edmunds (Liz); step-daughters: Kathy Sisneros, Pam
Kimber (Bruce); and step-son, Sam Hodgen (Pat); as well as 13 grandchildren,
23 great-grandchildren, and ten great-great-grandchildren. Hazel was preceded
in death by her daughter, Georgia Anderson and son-in-law, Andy; and her son,
Earl (Mick) Edmunds. All of her siblings preceded her also: Margaret Mather,
Robert Thomas, Ora Thomas, Wes Thomas, and Gene Thomas.
Hazel was an amazing person. She was a loving and well-loved mother,
grandmother, aunt, and friend. She made each person she knew feel very
special.
A Graveside Service will be held Saturday, November 19, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. at
Chelan Fraternal Cemetery. There will be a gathering of family and friends
following the service at the Best Western Hotel in Lakeside, WA, where a lunch
will be served. The family suggests that donations to a favorite charity can
be made in her name. Arrangements are by Telford’s Chapel of the Valley, East
Wenatchee, WA.
To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the Official Obituary of Hazel Hodgen hosted by Chapel of the Valley.