Lillian "Lil" Mae Whiting, 97, our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, a resident at both Hearthstone Assisted Living and Highline Care Center in East Wenatchee, responded to God's call home at 5:50 a.m. on Wednesday, December 9, 2009. For those who knew and loved her, she was a great source of independent strength, positive in spirit, with a great deal of love for her family and friends. She will be missed tremendously. Lillian was born December 24, 1911, in Wenatchee, as the second child of seven. She grew up with three sisters and three brothers in Wenatchee. She met her now deceased husband, Burtrand Whiting II, in Wenatchee, while sleighing on a beautiful, snowy hill, during their high school days. They married on April 18, 1931, in Wenatchee and then moved to Coulee Dam, WA in 1935, where Burt worked on the Grand Coulee Dam until retirement in 1971, with the Bureau of Reclamation. They lived at 809 Pine Street, where they raised their two sons, who were both born in Wenatchee; Gary L. Whiting, now living in Sun Lakes, AZ, and deceased son, Burtrand "Babe" D. Whiting III of Eureka, CA. Lillian was a homemaker and also worked and managed the Sears Roebuck Catalog store in Grand Coulee from 1949 to 1957, and then at the Green Hut Café in Coulee Dam from 1964 to 1972. Both Burt and Lillian were involved with the work of the Coulee Dam Masonic Lodge, with Lillian being installed as the Worthy Matron, April 8, 1967, for The Order of the Eastern Star, Chapter No. 337. Her hobbies were playing Bridge, a game she truly loved and enjoyed for over 70 years, and also working in both oil and watercolor painting, for which she had great talent. Upon their retirement, Lillian and Burt started traveling around the Southwest and Mexico and finally settled on becoming "Snow Birds" in Mesa, AZ. After Burt's death, Lillian bought a home in Wenatchee, where she spent the summers in Washington and the winters in Arizona, for 23 years. As travel became a burden, she settled on living in Wenatchee full time, playing her beloved game of Bridge at the Senior Center and seeing her many grandchildren.

Lillian is survived by her sister, Evelyn Carter of East Wenatchee; her brother, Russ Perry of Greenbank, WA; oldest son, Gary Whiting of Sun Lakes, AZ; two granddaughters; five grandsons; two great-granddaughters; four great-grandsons; and one great-great-granddaughter.

A Graveside Memorial Service will be held in June.