Julie McDonald: Chehalis Club Honors Deceased Members With Book Donations

Earlier this month, at its regular meeting, the St. Helens Club in Chehalis welcomed the daughter, son and granddaughter of Suzi Vander Stoep, who had been a member of the historic club for 56 years when she passed away May 8.

The occasion was the donation of two nonfiction books in her memory to the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library — The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown and Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times by Bishop Michael Curry. A bookplate will be placed in each to note that the books were presented to the library by the St. Helens Club in memory of Margaret Sue “Suzi” Vander Stoep. Also included will be a photo of Suzi and Jim Vander Stoep with their springer spaniel taken in 2011, when the couple were grand marshals of the Santa Parade.

“She was an avid reader,” said her daughter, Johanna Vander Stoep of Bainbridge Island. “Nonfiction was Suzi’s favorite genre. She especially enjoyed historical nonfiction. In recent years, she said that Boys in the Boat was one of her all-time favorites.”

She said her mother gifted her Bible study with Love Is the Way and jotted the following notes about the book’s message: “Love is an action and can change the world for the better. Love is a commitment to seek the good and works for the good and welfare of others. Love is not easy, but like muscles, we get stronger, both with repetition and as the burden gets heavier, and it works. It is the only thing that ever has.”

Granddaughter Isabel Vander Stoep, a reporter for The Chronicle, said her grandmother was delighted to see her settle into a career.

“She was just the most incredible wonderful role model,” she said. “I miss her every day, and I know how much this club meant to her and how much it inspired her to be around other women who had that same drive.” 

For at least 70 years, and most likely more than a century, the St. Helens Club has honored its deceased members with donations of books to the Chehalis library. The book donations are in keeping with the mission of the organization that began Feb. 8, 1895, as the Women’s Fortnightly Club: “to promote literature, art, science, and vital issues of the day.”

It probably didn’t hurt that many female Chehalis librarians during the past century have belonged to the St. Helens Club, including Anna Koontz, Flaval Pearson, Barbara Wood, Corene Jones-Litteer, and Corine Aiken.

I dug into the club’s archives to determine how long the donations of books have taken place. The digital minutes available online, which dated back to 1952, noted memorial book donations for members Frances Kennicott in 1953, and Mazie Stewart (The Complete Book of Home Modernizing) and Dr. Kate Gregg (Prairie and Mountain Sketched by Matthew C. Field edited by Kate Gregg) in 1954, Esther Sonnemann (A History of the American Theatre 1700–1950 by Glenn Hughes) and Mary Moodie in 1956, Anna Koontz (A Pioneer’s Search for an Ideal Home by Phoebe Goodell Judson) in 1968, Margaret Steck in 1974, Dorothy Miller (History of Seattle: From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time by Clarence B. Bagley) in 1985, among others.

But early records indicate the club wanted to honor deceased members even during its first decade.

At a Jan. 6, 1904, meeting, Harriet F. Kennicott moved that “we form some plan to express our sympathy upon the death of a member of the club, and a record of the same be kept.” She and Lottie Urquhart reported back at the next meeting to recommend noting the deaths and memorial condolences in the minutes. It’s likely the donation of books followed shortly afterward, although Jean Smith’s 1984 history of the club’s early years examined only the club’s first decade.

I’m not sure when, but the book donation became a part of the club’s bylaws. When a club member dies, a committee draws up a written memorial to be sent to the family. And “as a memorial for those members who were active for five years or more, a book shall be placed in the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library. The president shall appoint a committee to select a suitable book.”

Jean Bluhm selected the book One More Hug to donate to the library in honor of Karen Gober, who died in January 2020. Books were also selected to honor Preston Pethtel (May 1, 2005), Alice Forth (June 22, 2012), Marion Ruth (Jan. 17, 2014), Connie Small (June 23, 2014), Mary Beth Giske (Aug. 7, 2018), Frances Giffey (Oct. 6, 2018), and Gloria Hauer (Nov. 8, 2020).

During the five years I’ve belonged to the club, I’ve met many fabulous women and learned so much from their hour-long lectures. Sadly, we’ve also lost a lot of active members—Robin Chadwick (who died March 9, 2020), Corine Aiken (May 4, 2021), Linda Ropka (May 28, 2021), Beverly Ramsey (Nov. 15, 2021), and Vander Stoep. 

In March, Jeanne Nygaard showed a painting by Linda Ropka that her husband, Mark, gave to the club to donate to the library in her memory in lieu of a book. It’s hanging in one of the library’s study rooms.

In May, June Cleaveland and Marilynn Chintella shared remembrances of Chadwick and showed the books donated in her memory: Bartolomeo Christofori and the Invention of the Piano by Elizabeth Rusch and When the Lights Are Bright Again by Andrew Norlen.

To honor Aiken, Corene Jones-Litteer read a tribute to the former Chehalis librarian who died in May 2021. On her behalf, the club donated three books to the library: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny, and Transient Desires by Donna Leon.

In addition to the book donations, the annual yearbook lists the names of club members who have passed away through the years, a list of 84 that includes many well-known names of Chehalis women such as Catherine Montgomery, Kate Millett, Anna Urquhart, Adaline Coffman, Ethel Bishop, Helen Doane, Mary Lee Brunswig, Selma Schwartz, Marion “Mel” Johnson, Florence Kennicott, Alice Forth, Carolyn Shaw and June Hansen.

Honoring deceased club members with a book donation to the local library is a wonderful tribute, a way of giving back to the community while recognizing the contributions of the women who participated in the St. Helens Club. I’m honored to be part of this 127-year-old club and to serve as its president this year.  

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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.