Illiene Boawn passed away on September 4, 2016, at The Kenney Home in West Seattle.
She was born in Aberdeen, Washington, in the summer of 1927 to Alden Sedlack and Viala Sedlack (nee Tabor). She graduated from Aberdeen High School, and then from Washington State College with a major in Physical Education. She was a Cougar all the way, and enthusiastically travelled with her sister-in-law, Mary Mattison, to the Cougar bowl games in their burgundy and silver attire. At college, she met Eugene Paul Boawn. Illiene taught school in Aberdeen until 1951, when she and Gene married and moved to Portland, where he worked for the BPA.
Illiene and Gene had a son, Phillip Boawn, in 1953 and a daughter, Paula (Bob) Moore, in 1954. In 1956, Gene's work took them to West Seattle and the house where they lived for the rest of their life together. When her children were in school, Illiene decided to go back to teaching. She substituted for a few years before becoming a full-time Physical Education and Health teacher at Chief Sealth High school. When Phillip started school there, she transferred to West Seattle High School where she eventually became Head of Counseling. After Gene died in 2012, Illiene moved to The Kenney, where she resided until her death.
Illiene loved being around people, and she had many life-long friends. Her high school class still remains close and she attended every reunion she could, always interested in the joys and sympathetic to the sorrows of these people she knew so well. She reunited with her college residence group for long, talk-filled weekends every year. She was an avid golfer, and was a member of the West Seattle Women's Golf Club during its heyday. She spent long hours doing research with the American Association of University Women and was a fervent believer in the worth of a woman's education.
And she travelled. If someone proposed a journey, Illiene's hand was first in the air. She used her earnings as a teacher to take her family to Europe for the summer of 1967. She loved swimming and snorkeling in Hawaii. After she retired, she and Gene spent "the drizmal months" (January through March) in Poipu Beach, Kauai, every year. She took a wine tour through Germany. She went to the Munich Olympics and the Grecian Isles. She traveled through India and China, and snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. She spent weeks in England and the Czech Republic doing genealogical research. She traveled with Gene, her children, her friends and their families, her beloved cousins and sisters-in-law. She travelled to experience life as others lived it, to eat the food of other cultures, and to revel in her endless curiosity about the world's people.
Now Illiene is off on her next great adventure. She leaves behind her son and daughter, her much-loved son-in-law, Bob, her granddaughter Emma (Paul) Weber, her grandson Travis Boawn, and her beloved niece, Fran (Steve) Lewis. The joy of her life this past year has been her great-granddaughter Annaliese Weber, the sweetest baby ever. All her myriad friends and family will miss her very much, even as we rejoice over a life well-lived.
At Illiene's request, there will be no service. Remembrances may be directed to Planned Parenthood of Washington, the Kenney Foundation, or to the charity of your choice.
Published in the West Seattle Herald section of the Westside Weekly, September 23, 2016.
