ROBERTA "ROBBIE" THELMA SKILES

Roberta “Robbie” Thelma Crandall Skiles passed away at home Saturday, September 22, 2018.  She was born on December 16, 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, to Robert Keeny and Thelma Loveen Talkington Crandall. Upon the untimely death of her mother at birth, Robbie and sister, Judy, along with their father, lived with their paternal grandparents, Walter and Josephine Crandall in St. Johns, Oregon (Portland) and maternal aunt and uncle, Jim and Laureta Mazzine in Aberdeen, Washington. The family moved north of Vancouver, Washington, in about 1954 and Robbie attended the three room (eight grades) Baker Grade School.  They lived in a three-story pumice block house built by her father and attended two years at Ridgefield High School. Robbie and Judy learned to clean nails from lumber their dad salvaged from the Vanport Flood which he used to build the house and they spent many hours “tamping” concrete as he raised the structure. In 1956 her father married Lois Elizabeth Hanf who became a beloved stepmother to the girls. The family then returned to the Portland suburb of Parkrose. Robbie attended nine months of business college in Portland, her first secretarial job being with the Social Security Administration in Yakima, Washington.  Robbie married Norman Lynn Skiles on August 11, 1962 in the Salmon Creek Church. The couple had two sons: Stacy Leon, born February 23, l965 in Pullman, Washington and Wayne Keith, born November 8, 1966 in Ellensburg.

The family moved to the Walla Walla area in l968 where Robbie worked as executive secretary to the Dean of the Faculty at Whitman College from l976-l996.  She retired in 1996 with her husband to a three-acre farm in wheat fields east of Waitsburg, Washington. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, serving as Clerk of Session in College Place and later, in Waitsburg.

Robbie enjoyed reading, gardening and walking. She also enjoyed quilting. She was an  excellent seamstress and created many beautiful, one-of-a-kind quilts as gifts for many family members and friends.

Robbie is survived by her husband, Norm of 56 years; son, Stacy and his wife Halima and their two children, Kaiden and Cheyenne, currently living in China, son Wayne and his wife, Linda and their son, Joshua of Mead, WA.

A memorial service will be held at the Waitsburg Presbyterian Church at 5th and Main Street, Waitsburg, WA on Saturday, October 13, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. Memorial contributions can be made in Robbie’s name to Waitsburg Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 397, Waitsburg, WA  99361 or Women’s Cancer Fund, Partner Services-WA, 345 North Main Street #449, Clawson, MI 48017-0449.