The Olympian
Olympia, WA

LAKE, Ella L
age - 94
place of death - Lacey WA
date of obit - 2004-2-22



Tuesday, February 24, 2004 edition of the
Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, Washington (page A6):

      Ella Louise Peterson Lake

      Jan. 7, 1910 - Feb. 20, 2004

           Longtime Clallam County teacher Ella Louise Peterson Lake of
Olympia died at age 94 after several years of declining health.

           She was born in Everett to John and Anna (Foster) Eyre.
Her early years were spent in Oso, where her father operated a logging
company.

           She graduated from high school at Port Angeles in 1927, then
attended the University of Washington and transferred to Bellingham
Normal School (now Western Washington University) in 1928.

           When she returned to Port Angeles during the Great Depression
to help support her family, she began a 40-year teaching career.

           Her first position was at Crescent School in Joyce.  She then
taught sixth grade at Lincoln School in Port Angeles in 1930-35.

           School district policy restricted female teachers from working
while married so she left teaching when she married Dellmere Peterson
in Port Angeles on June 7, 1935.

           She worked at the Smart Shoppe, then in the early 1950s was
able to resume teaching as a substitute before returning full-time at
Jefferson School in 1954.

           After years of correspondence study and summer school, she
received her bachelor's degree from Central Washington State College
in 1967.

           Mr. Peterson died in 1969.

           She married Fletcher Lake in Port Angeles on July 25, 1970.

           In 1972, she retired from teaching and traveled with her
husband, spending many winters in Mesa, Ariz.

           Mr. Lake died in 1995.

           Until well into her 80's, Mrs. Lake swam in Lake Sutherland.
She was noted for her blackberry pies, one of which was eaten by
President Carter.

           Mrs. Lake moved to Olympia to be near family members in the
mid 1990s.

           Survivors include sons and daughters-in-law John and
Nancy Peterson of Olympia and Bob and Marily Peterson of Louisville;
stepson and step-daughter-in-law Kenneth and Rachel Lake of Seattle;
six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

           SERVICES:  Saturday, March 6, 11 a.m., memorial in Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, 301 Lopez Ave., Port Angeles.  Mills and Mills Funeral
Directors, Olympia, is in charge of arrangements.

           MEMORIALS:  Jefferson Elementary School Library, 218 E. 12th
St., Port Angeles, WA 98362; or North Olympic Library System, 2210 S.
Peabody St., Port Angeles, WA 98362.