Margaret Irene Solan, 95, passed away with family by her side on April 22, 2017, at Saint Peter Hospital in Olympia. She was a remarkable mother and grandmother who lived a full and vibrant life.
Margaret was born on Aug. 14, 1921, in Spokane to Daniel and Adaline Close who were originally from Saginaw, Mich. She was the fifth of eight children in a tight-knit Irish Catholic family. Her father ran a local store that sold dry goods and clothing for silver miners and her mother was a homemaker. During the Great Depression her parents always had room at their dinner table for less fortunate friends and neighbors who enjoyed the warmth and laughter (along with card games and perhaps dancing in the basement) of the Close clan. They taught their children to appreciate all that they had; Margaret carried these values with her throughout her long life. She graduated from Saint Augustine Grade School and Lewis and Clark High School. As a young woman, she had a career in banking working in Seattle and Alaska before returning to Spokane.
She married James Joseph Solan of Anaconda, Mont. on May 6, 1950, in Spokane. After living in Seattle and Olympia, they moved to Aberdeen in 1953, where they raised six children and her husband practiced law. The Solan home was a warm, lively place and Margaret set the tone as its demanding but fun-loving and outgoing matriarch. She enjoyed the company of her family and friends, and they loved being around Margaret.
Throughout her life she enjoyed watching sports, especially her children’s events which included years of being the neighborhood’s stationwagon shuttle service and working the concession stands on many cold nights at Pioneer Park. Margaret always looked forward to women’s golf at Grays Harbor Country Club and annual couples golf trips with her husband. She loved a good competition, as anyone who spent a day with her in the surf at the local beaches found out when she raced to reach her razor clam limit. At the Aberdeen Elks, she was a regular at the Thursday night dinners and loved dancing at the “Purple Bubble” ball…and just about anywhere else. Margaret knew the lyrics to many standards and Irish tunes and on a good night just might lead her family or friends in a song or two.
For many years she was a regular at the local cannery putting up peaches, pears, applesauce and pickles. Margaret always had homemade jam in the freezer. Her blackberry pies were legendary. She knitted countless wool afghans as gifts, which family and friends still treasure.
In her later years, she became a proud grandmother and loved to have family and friends visit her in the summer at her “dream come true” cabin at Hood Canal. The Solan family enjoyed many crab feeds, sunsets, and late night dinners at the Canal. Margaret’s August birthdays were an event not to be missed. In the fall, she would return to Aberdeen where she belonged to several bridge groups, sometimes playing in two groups in a day, and was always in demand as a substitute. She remained connected to the Close family, and cherished the reunions with her brothers and sisters and their families at Priest Lake, Idaho. Several years after her husband passed away she moved to Bonaventure in Lacey where she lived independently, attending daily exercise class and was still swimming every summer at the Canal into her final year of life. Before others made it famous, Margaret’s favorite motto was “Just do it!”, which she not only preached but lived.
Margaret valued education and took pride in traveling the country to attend the graduations of her children and grandchildren, with a special place in her heart for Gonzaga University.
Faith was a guiding force in Margaret’s life, and she was a parishioner at Saint Mary Catholic Church for many years. She was a member of the Young Mothers group, Saint Aurilla’s Guild, and the parish school board. She taught the importance of Mass and prayer by example, and found solace in praying to Mary during her final days.
Margaret is survived by her children Sally (Mike) Barnes, Peggy, Michael (DeAnne), Bill (Janet), and Steve (Susan), her daughter-in-law Linda Solan, her grandchildren Michael, James (Dana), Maria, Amy (Jake) Parks, Kevin, John, Ryan, Joseph and Brooke, and her great-grandchild James. She was preceded in death by her husband, all of her siblings and her eldest son, James Thomas Solan.
A Funeral Mass to celebrate Margaret’s life will be held at Saint Mary Catholic Church in Aberdeen at 11 a.m. on May 17, which will be preceded by a Rosary Vigil at Fern Hill funeral home at 6 p.m. on May 16. The family requests that any remembrances be made to Saint Mary’s School or the YMCA of Grays Harbor.
