Pauline Louise “Polly” Sabin, 102, passed away at her residence in Chehalis, Wash., Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018. She was born in Toledo, Wash., Aug. 16, 1916, to Samuel and Anna (Skinner) Herren, one of five children.
Polly met her future husband, Ray Sabin, on her first visit to the First Christian Church in Chehalis. The couple dated for two years, often going to shows at the St. Helens Theatre in downtown Chehalis. Polly and Ray married in a double ceremony along with her twin sister, Josephine and her fiancée, Sid Johnson, at the minister’s home August 1, 1936. Polly and Ray remained active in the church, with Ray singing in the choir and Polly serving in women’s leadership.
The couple had three sons, Dennis, Kenneth and David; and a daughter, Jane, who passed in 1960, at the age of 13, due to a heart condition. They adopted a daughter, 2 ½ year old Camiele Ann, from Korea in 1961, who passed in 2008 after a prolonged illness. Ray passed in 1999. Their son, Kenneth, passed away in 2010, he was a Chehalis-Centralia Airport Board member and pilot of the Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute plane that crashed en route to Lewiston, Idaho, due to engine failure.
Polly never drank alcohol, nor did she smoke, it just ‘wasn’t ladylike’ and she never tried it. She has only spent four nights in the hospital and was very independent. Polly moved into Chehalis West Assisted Living in 2016, after a small stroke. After her move, she told us that she woke up each morning, climbed out of bed, got a cup of coffee, ate half a banana, got dressed and went to breakfast at 7:30 a.m.
She saw many new inventions and changes in her lifetime. Polly remarked in a Chronicle interview last June, “It is almost unbelievable the change in the world in a hundred years and everybody accepts it.” She saw the end of World War I and II, lived through the Great Depression and was already six years old when soft serve ice cream was invented. Regarding technology, she marveled that everything seems to operate at the push of a button- TV channels change, car doors open and ignitions start. She also noted that more families eat fast food on the go, rather than enjoying home cooked meals at the dinner table and people nowadays pay more attention to their electronic devices instead of people in the same room.
Polly is survived by her sons, Dennis (Sharon) and David (Sharen) Sabin; daughter-in-law, Pat Sabin; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation will take place Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Brown Mortuary Service, 299 N. Market Blvd., Chehalis, Wash. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, at the First Christian Church, 111 NW Prindle St., Chehalis, Wash.
