SEQUIM — The backbone of the Sequim Food Bank for years and Sequim’s Citizen of the Year in 1991, Nina Vivian Fatherson, 85, recently succumbed to cancer.
Fatherson, 85, died June 24 in her Sequim home, her family said.
Family and friends gathered to remember Fatherson on June 30 at Sequim View Cemetery.
Tom Baermann, who helped start the food bank in his garage in 1981 on Govan Avenue, said Fatherson was a dedicated volunteer along with her husband, Thomas “Bill.”
“They always did what needed to be done,” Baermann said.
“They did it without complaining and they were so devoted and such hard workers.”
Worked for 28 years
For 28 years the couple spearheaded helping bring food to those in need in Sequim.
Fatherson connected with the food bank through its coordinator at the time, Donna Floyd, and eventually she became its coordinator/executive director, which was mostly a volunteer position through her service.
Baermann said the Fathersons had a good relationship with the local shops and “any place there was to find deals or food for free, they were there.”
She helped the food bank transition to bigger spaces twice from Baermann’s garage to an old chicken coop/storage space at Faith Lutheran Church and later the current facility at 144 W. Alder St.
Her family said Bill worked with his wife on weekends and after retirement he worked with her at the food bank.
In 1992, Fatherson was voted the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year for her efforts at the food bank. Bill received the award in 2000, too.
Building renamed
Shortly before her retirement in October 2009, food bank organizers renamed the main building after the Fathersons.
Stephen Rosales, Sequim Food Bank board president, said “the food bank is what it is today because of Nina and Bill.”
“They did a great job and brought it a long ways,” he said.
“They worked tirelessly.”
Former City of Sequim Mayor Walt Schubert worked and supported Fatherson’s efforts for several years.
“They had years of dedication and it would not have been here if not for her,” Schubert said.
“I admired what she did. When on the city council, I supported her however I could and we did some things personally, bought animals with 4-H at the [Clallam County Fair] and gave the meat to the food bank.”
Fatherson is survived by her husband, Bill, and their three children Peggy, Debbie and James, and their families.
Jewel Winford Parker and Alma Dee Parker brought Fatherson into the world Feb. 2, 1932, in Arkansas and she and her father came to the Olympic Peninsula for his work as a mechanic.
She and Bill married June 6, 1948, in Port Angeles six weeks after meeting on a blind date.
Peggy was born three years later.
Fatherson had six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Her family asks that any memorial contributions be made to any cancer organization.
