Stellajoe Staebler’s Contributions Went Far Beyond Seminary Hill

Stellajoe Staebler’s legacy seems obvious enough — the 72 acres of unspoiled forest perched right above downtown Centralia.

But the savior of Seminary Hill, who passed away Saturday at 101 — on the same day as an annual clean-up at the natural area — leaves behind more than a swath of trees and ferns to carry on her memory. 

There are also the Girl Scouts and Sunday School kids and artists and students — all of whom were touched by Staebler’s myriad contributions to the community she called home for nearly 60 years.

“She always wanted to be useful, and useful meant doing something for somebody else,” said Rebecca Staebler, Stellajoe’s daughter and a Centralia city councilor.

Stellajoe is best known for her efforts to preserve Seminary Hill. When some began discussing logging the city-owned property for revenue in 1980, she and another Girl Scout troop leader, Chloe Palmer, collected thousands of signatures urging city officials to keep the forest intact. It was, after all, her backyard. She lived on the residential area of the hill from the time she moved to Centralia until a year and a half ago.

“It was our woods,” said Rebecca Staebler.

“It was our playground,” added her sister, Gretchen Staebler.

The city council eventually listened, setting aside the land as the city’s first natural area. Stellajoe co-founded the non-profit Friends of the Seminary Hill Natural Area, the group that still takes on much of the responsibility of maintaining the land.

“She’s pretty legendary amongst our group and has been really engaged throughout her life,” said Brian Mittge, president of the Friends group. “She was confident in her vision and what she knew to be right, but she was also very humble and self-effacing.”

A few years ago, Stellajoe came to the group with an idea for a picnic shelter in the parking lot and quietly gave the seed money to start the project. On her 100th birthday, that shelter was dedicated and named after her.

That spirit is what made her so remarkable, said those close to her, antsy to contribute even late in life. Well into her 80s, she was volunteering at the senior center, and when she herself needed assistance in her later years, she took pride in befriending those whose job it was to help her.

Stellajoe grew up in Tennessee, courted her husband George in the Smoky Mountains and moved west with him after his return from World War II. They arrived in Centralia in 1960. 

She spent more than a decade leading her daughters’ Girl Scout troops, including trips to a Scout camp on Seminary Hill. In addition to guiding her kids, she wanted to help other Scouts who didn’t have a supportive home life.

“I don’t know that she ever realized how she touched so many lives as a Girl Scout leader,” said Gretchen Staebler.

It was a similar drive that prompted her to teach Sunday School when her three daughters were young, to work with and support weaving artists in the Chehalis Tribe, to host foreign exchange students for Thanksgiving meals. 

Her personal ethic carried over to national issues as well. As a high school student, she spoke out against segregation in the Deep South. She helped lead Washington state’s contributions to the Ribbon International project, a 1985 event in which panels of cloth were connected for 18 miles between the Pentagon and Washington, D.C., promoting nuclear disarmament. Stellajoe was an active voice on environmental issues, and late in life spoke out in favor of marriage equality. 

“She grew up in an era where women were told things they couldn’t do,” said Gretchen Staebler. “So she found things she could do.”

Because of her gender, Stellajoe had to give up her dream of becoming a missionary, but in a way she became one anyway. 

“Wherever she was, she got involved,” said Rebecca Staebler. “It framed who she was. You take care of what you have. Treat everything and everyone with respect.”

Stelljoe passed away just a few hours before a Friends-organized trail work event on Seminary Hill, set for Earth Day weekend. She had been eager to hear how many people turned out and what the volunteers accomplished. At the picnic shelter that bears her name, there’s a quote on the door attributed to her:

“Walk with the earth as your friend and nature as your teacher.”

Thanks to her efforts, generations of locals have been able to put those words into practice.