Marie Therese (Maurin) Reid

January 4, 1932 – November 9, 2016

Marie Therese (Maurin) Reid, 84, of Ephrata, Wash. passed away suddenly Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, Wash.. She was a loved mother, ”gramma,” sister and friend.

Marie was born on Jan. 4, 1932 in Chehalis, Wash. to Joseph and Julia (Ries) Maurin. As a great-granddaughter of settler and stagecoach driver John Maurin, Marie (“Babe” as her Dad called her) inherited a strong, independent zest for life. As the oldest of three girls, Marie enjoyed life on the farm, playing cars and trucks in the dirt with neighborhood children, roller skating and sliding down banisters at school when the nuns weren’t looking. She was also a dedicated student at St. Joseph’s School.

On June 4, 1949, at St. Joseph parish, one week after graduating from Chehalis High School, Marie married one of those neighborhood children with whom she’d played trucks in the dirt, the love of her life, Noel E. Reid. Thus began, their partnership of “adventure.”

In February 1951, Marie and her baby daughter flew to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas to join Noel who was training troops for the Korean War. She would talk of their twelve-hour flight, the plane going up and down at every airport, Marie scared and clinging to her baby. While at Fort Bliss, she helped augment their meager Army income by working at the Hilton Hotel in El Paso and then as a secretary for the Army.

When the couple returned, they continued their partnership. While living in the Chehalis area, they built and remodeled three houses while Noel worked full-time and Marie maintained the family. Marie enjoyed designing and sewing clothes for her children. She also enjoyed working on those houses. She planned and painted both the interior and exterior of houses, chose furniture and sewed household accessories. Marie and Noel also ran a 40-acre dairy farm in their “spare time” and were named Dairy Family of the Year in 1968. Marie dug into the farm life: feeding cows, hauling manure, keeping records, and baling, hauling and stacking hay. For a short time, Marie and Noel owned a dry-cleaning business in Yakima. Once again, they were partners. Marie worked at the cleaners as diligently as she had on the farm. Marie and Noel were members of a monthly dance and dinner club. They also took frequent day trips and camping with their family.

In 1970, they bought a dairy farm in Ephrata and joined the community. Since they also grew alfalfa, wheat and barley, you’d still see Marie out in the field with her hair tied up in a bandanna (likely red) and always wearing red lipstick. Her own uncle mistook Marie for hired help from a distance one time.

After “retirement,” Noel planted a 15-acre high-density orchard. Upon his passing in 1983, Marie took over as main orchardist and brought in the season’s first harvest of red and golden delicious apples. Always striving for excellence, Marie won numerous awards and honors with her apple exhibits at the Grant County Fair. She continued running the orchard until it was sold and she moved to town. Marie worked at Custom Apple Packers, Basic American Foods and Nestle corporation until she retired in 1997.

Marie enjoyed any type of travel in the United States, but also traveled to Hawaii, Italy, and Greece. She was a member of the Basin Boots and Bits Drill Team and could be seen riding her faithful horse, Hardy, in many parades. Marie was a member of the Red Hat Society, Boot Skooters Dance Group and also the Dancing Grannies Line Dancers right from the group’s inception. Marie had numerous friends at church and the Senior Center, and all will miss her sweet, energetic, kind spirit.

Marie is survived by one sister, Ann Daniels, Custer; daughters Diane Reid and Lana Reid Waters, both of Ephrata and Terry (Michelle) Reid of Loon Lake; five grandchildren Reid Waters, Max Waters, Sara Riebli and Theresa Scheib, all of Ephrata and Christina Frye of Ellensburg; eight great-grandchildren Cooper and Samantha Frye, Emma and Joseph Reynolds, Rose Lyles-Riebli, Kimberlin, Colton and Jordan Bennett; two great-great-grandchildren Josephine Bennett and Chloe Rood-Bennett and many nieces and nephews, as well as dear friends in the community where she lived for many years.

Viewing will be held Friday, Nov. 18 from 2-4 p.m. and Monday, Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon, at Nicoles Funeral Home, 157 C St NW, Ephrata, Wash. Rosary will be said at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 323 D ST SW, Ephrata, Wash. at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. Mass of Christian Burial will be held Monday, Nov. 21, 2 p.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church, with burial to follow in the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery. Following burial, a reception will be held at St. Rose of Lima parish hall sponsored by YLI. Arrangements are under the care of Nicoles Funeral Home of Ephrata, Wash. Thoughts and memories for the family may be left at www.nicolesfuneralhome.