OBITUARIES

Lesli Marie Higginson

Lesli Marie Higginson died at St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham on January 6, 2023 after bravely and stoically battling ovarian cancer for 4-1/2 years. She was 62.

Lesli was a 4th generation descendant of the Higginson pioneer family in Whatcom County on her father’s side and a 5th generation descendant of the Rosler pioneer family in San Juan County on her mother’s side.

Lesli was born September 16, 1960 in Seattle to William and Jean Marie Higginson. She joined older sisters Carla and Jaya. A younger sister Lisa arrived ve years later to complete the family.

Lesli graduated from Lake Washington High School in 1978 and went directly to

Nathaniel Luke Wielenga

Nate, amazing and loved son, brother, uncle, and nephew passed away on a clear, bright morning February 8th, 2023 in Bellingham.

Nate was born October 28th, 1993 in Bellingham to Gregg and Sheila Wielenga. He graduated from Lynden High School in 2012 where he was a two sport athlete in football and his rst love, basketball.

Nate lived a full life in his short time with us. As an athlete, he was privileged to be a part of multiple

Deanna Jean ‘Peach’ Brown

Deanna Jean Brown, known by everyone who loved her as Peach, peacefully passed away at age 83 among family on the evening of Feb. 6.

college at Western Washington University. However, after two years, she decided that her chosen major as an accountant was not of interest, so she spent most of the next ten years working in the shing industry in Alaska. While there, she met her future husband Bernard Fernandez who was a king crab sherman at the time. She nished her shing career as the Human Resources Director of the Icicle Seafoods processing plant in Bellingham. Lesli then returned to Western Washington University. She graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science in 1996 while pregnant with her son Andrew, who was born in 1997 and was the greatest joy of her life. Lesli obtained her Masters in Molecular Biology from Western Washington University in 2002. She worked as a Water Quality Specialist with the City of Bellingham for ve years and then became an Environmental Engineer with the British Petroleum Cherry Point re nery, where she remained for 15 years, continuing to work through the state championships including his senior year in basketball where he also earned honors as an AllState player and 1st team all tournament player.

He most of all enjoyed the camaraderie with his teammates and friends.

He worked primarily in the trades and always enjoyed a hard day’s work whether it was in Whatcom county, Hawaii, Michigan, Nevada, or California. He was adventurous and nomadic by nature and spent many weeks

Peach was born June 13, 1939, in Bellingham to Vernon “Tu y” and Wilma Barter. Peach was the oldest of three siblings, and graduated from Mt. Baker High School in 1957.

Peach met her sweetheart Jimmy “Jim” at her parents’ restaurant in Glacier. ey were married on Halloween in 1957 and majority of her cancer treatment until illness forced an early retirement. She found her work challenging and rewarding, and she was well-liked by her co-workers.

After Lesli and Bernard divorced, they still treated each other as family. Lesli then fell in love with Robert Doyer; the couple intended to marry but he died unexpectedly of cancer after only two years together. Lesli cared for him devotedly during his illness and was heart-broken at his loss.

Lesli made lifelong friends with whom she remained very connected. She was talented at renovations and house repairs and the projects brought her great satisfaction. (She was actually re-tarring the roof of her house while 9 months pregnant with Andrew and went into labor during that job.) Lesli enjoyed doing many things, from attending the Seattle Opera with Carla, to camping and enjoying the outdoors with Andrew, to shopping (she had an astonishing collection of shoes and often wished that she could wear 3” heels to work), to crafting handmade presents for traveling with voyages to Hawaii, Iceland, Europe, and across the United States, visiting friends and making new ones along the way. We always marveled at his industriousness to make things happen. But he always returned home to Whatcom County where the people he cherished remained, his family and childhood friends. ey meant everything to him. Nate was a gentle, and above all, kind hearted soul. His love for all people was extraordinarily unconditional and empathetic. He had a great passion for kids and animals. He refused to accept that life could not be beautiful and perfect every moment even later welcomed four children: Shelly, Vernon, Lori, and Steve. Peach loved being a stay-at-home mom and homemaker. After her children had grown, Peach worked for a number of years at the Deming Quick Stop.

Peach was very sociable, and spending time catching up with family and friends brought her joy.

Even after moving into a nursing home in Bellingham, she still managed to get all the gossip from her neighbors in Deming. Peach was always up for an adventure, and especially enjoyed camping and digging clams. Every year, she looked forward to camping with Jim and their friends at the Deming Log Show.