Stella Betrozoff Barkhurst was born May 15, 1924, the first of eleven children of Alex and Katie (Domin) Betrozoff. She grew up in Riverdale in the family home at 2108 Park Avenue. She attended the old Riverdale School two blocks away; then the old Raymond Junior High School where the present Raymond Elementary School is located; and finally the old Raymond High School that was situated near the entrance and parking area of the new Jr./Sr. high school. She worked at Hoggatt’s Grocery in Riverdale as well as at Seattle-First National Bank in downtown Raymond after graduating with honors in 1942. She then moved to Aberdeen to work for a company making military plane parts as part of the World War II war effort.

In 1944 Stella joined the Navy women’s corp called the WAVES and took advanced training in Oklahoma before being stationed in San Francisco as part of the Navy department that kept track of the many oil tankers sailing to different ports as part of the war effort. She left the WAVES in 1946 at the end of her military enlistment and remained in San Francisco even though her superiors wanted her to stay in the Navy and continue doing what they considered to be an excellent job. She met and married Virgil “Whitey” Barkhurst of San Francisco, a vet from Iowa. They were married in Raymond where their large reception was at the former Polish Hall on 8th Street.

Her first San Francisco house was veteran’s housing on Army Street and her first job was with an upscale jewelry store on Market Street, the Main Street of San Francisco. The jewelry company started a catalog appliance and home electric items company called Service Exchange Distributors and put Stella in charge of the business which grew very fast. Unfortunately, it was under-capitalized and gave way to other catalog stores getting into the business. During her California time she moved to San Bruno, Costa Mesa and Long Beach. Also during this time her sister Evangeline and brother Michael moved to the area. Later another brother Larry and sister Kathleen moved to California. Her brother Michael lived with her in the San Bruno house for a year.

One of the highlights of her life was having a California family of brothers and sisters as well as the Raymond family of brothers and sisters and parents. The California family remained close and did many activities and vacations together. They vacationed together in different resort areas around the San Francisco Bay area and they had a long tradition of going to Reno, Nevada for Labor Day weekends. Stella was the unofficial head of the California Betrozoff family. She survived breast cancer in 1966 with her California and Washington family providing support.

While living in Long Beach, California and working as the executive secretary to the CEO of a private hospital she had the opportunity to take a job managing a Kmart women’s clothing warehouse. During this time her brother Michael had to return to Stanford Hospital for a second heart valve replacement. She retired from Kmart to house-sit his place in Forest Hill, California, near Auburn, California, and also care for his adopted son there during Mike’s hospital care. Michael did not survive the heart valve replacement operation and Stella ended up at Forest Hill, California for 2.5 years.

After Forest Hill, Stella moved to Reno, Nevada where she lived for 22 years. She had many friends and relatives visiting her while she lived in Reno. Her family members and friends enjoyed her company and the opportunity to spend hours in the many casinos in downtown Reno.

She then moved back to Raymond in March of 2010 where she lived until her death. She lived in the Raymond Island community and she enjoyed being back in Raymond among her relatives and friends. Stella passed away on June 26, 2019, at the age of 95 at the Willapa Harbor Care Center. Her brothers Michael, Alex Jr., Stanley, Larry and Walter preceded her in death. Her sisters Evangeline and Kathleen preceded her in death. Of the eleven children Alex Jr., Stanley, Walter and Norman remained in the Raymond area. Her mother, Katie Domin Betrozoff, died in 1968 at the age of 61. Her father, Alex, died in 1975 at the age of 87. She is survived by brothers John of Coupeville, Washington and Scottsdale, Arizona, Frank of Lacey, Washington and Norman of South Bend, Washington. In lieu of flowers, Stella requested that donations be made to the Betrozoff Family Scholarship administered by the Raymond Schools Foundation, Box 234, Raymond, WA 98577.

Arrangements are in care of Stoller’s Mortuary in Raymond, Washington. You may visit www.StollersMortuary.com to leave condolences for the family.