Barbara Searway Sahlin

SAHLIN, Barbara, 76, ASHLAND, ME & TACOMA, WA, April 7, 2011. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., on Wed., April 20, 2011, at Praise Covenant Church, Tacoma, WA.

ASHLAND, ME & TACOMA, WA – Barbara Sahlin, beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt and friend, passed away April 7, 2011. She was born on March 12, 1935, to Walter and Ada (Orcutt) Searway in Ashland, Maine, where she was raised.

She graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington and began her teaching career in Glen Falls, NY. In 1958, she began teaching in Mannheim, Germany, at the Dependent School operated by the U.S. Army. During this time, Barbara met her future husband, Edward Sahlin, who was a dentist in the army. Barbara moved to Edward’s hometown of Tacoma, WA, in 1960, and began teaching for Tacoma Public Schools. They married in 1963. In 1968, they built a house in University Place, overlooking Puget Sound and raised their three children.

Her relationship with Jesus empowered her throughout her life, including being the twenty-third liver transplant recipient at the University of Washington in 1990.

Barbara is survived by her husband, Edward of 48 years; son, Kurt and wife, Kim and grandsons, Ben, Zach and Luke; son, Eric and wife, Christi and grandson, Scott; daughter, LeAnn Miller and husband, Eric; brothers: Albert “Bub” and wife, Joyce, of Guntersville, AL, and Nelson and wife, Ellie, of Cape Elizabeth, ME; sisters: Marjorie Grey of Zephyr Hills, FL, and Janis MacDonald and husband, Albert of Ashland, ME; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, at Praise Covenant Church, 3501 South Orchard St., Tacoma, WA 98466.