Annette Karin (Torstenson) Bailey

Annette Karin (Torstenson) Bailey

Annette was born to Richard and Alice Torstenson on August 19, 1926, in Seattle, WA.  She left us on January 23, 2018, to join those saints who journeyed ahead.  Always a woman of great faith, we know she is now whole.

Annette was a proud graduate of the College of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, where she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work.  Soon after, she met Les Bailey, whom she married in 1950.  They enjoyed 50 years of marriage until his passing in 2001.

Annette was always a force to be reckoned with - she was involved in politics, active in the churches she attended over the years, and she spent years working for Washington State as a social worker at the Purdy Corrections Center and the Department of Social and Health Services advocating for minors and the elderly until her retirement in 1992.

When Annette and Les retired to Arizona, it gave them a chance to further pursue their love of travel.  Les didn’t enjoy the summer heat, so that became their time to travel - elderhostels, following their favorite Dixie Land Jazz band, and exploring the countries of their roots.    

Annette loved to read, work crossword puzzles, and had a later-in-life affinity for quilting.  She could work a room smoothly with her sense of humor and her “life experience” stories; her story-telling rivaled only that of her husband.

Annette is survived by her sister Mimi Calpestri of Bolinas, CA,  son Brian Bailey of Triumph, ID, and daughter Karin Ashabraner of Gig Harbor, granddaughters Rachel (Tom) Criddle, and Jill (Erik) Wofford, five great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Memorial Fund at the Gig Harbor United Methodist Church in Gig Harbor, the Memorial Fund at Spirit of Hope United Methodist Church in Peoria, AZ, or to any Animal Rescue.

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