Roxanne Rae Engler, of Hoquiam, Washington passed away suddenly on Sunday, March 3, 2024 at Providence St. Peter’s Hospital. She was 72.
She was a quiet soul who loved her family fiercely.
Roxanne was born December 6, 1951 to Edward and Shirrel (Shay) Koepp in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she lived with her brother and sister until they moved to Hoquiam, Washington in 1959. Roxanne attended school in Hoquiam where she was a member of the Hoquiam Grizzly Band and graduated with the class of 1970.
Continuing her education, Roxanne attended Grays Harbor Community College and Western Washington State College where she studied Education.
On June 30, 1973 Roxanne married her husband Harvey Engler (Centralia) of over 50 years in Aberdeen,Washington at Calvary Lutheran Church. They met while Roxanne was working at Al’s Humdinger and Harvey helped his Dad working on the railroad. It was apparently a favorite eating spot for the two of them and to his dying day, her father-in-law, Walter insisted that, “Harvey always got more prawns in his prawn basket than he did!” which Roxanne would quickly deny.
They raised their family out East Hoquiam and, like all things, the next thing you know time moves fast and her kids were grown and having babies of their own. Family always came first and foremost for Roxanne as she always said that the most important ‘job’ she ever had was being a Grandma!
Roxanne’s six grandchildren were her pride and joy! Whether it was making it to parades to see cheer, visiting her grandsons in Tenino, or watching soccer games and visiting at Bishop field; she was there.
Never too busy to give a hug or lend an ear, she was the glue that held our family together. She loved hosting Christmas holidays, birthday parties and even totally random get togethers where she could make her spaghetti for all to eat. She was also very successful at setting off the fire alarm anytime she made garlic bread on spaghetti nights, that even the grandkids knew where the towels were to fan the smoke away from the alarm.
Roxanne worked at Seafirst Bank as a teller, eventually moving on to customer service at Cascade Natural Gas, and back to banking as a loan officer at Timberland Bank in Hoquiam where she retired in September of 2018.
She always looked forward to getting dressed up and seeing all her friends at Timberland’s Annual Christmas Party where tons of pictures would be taken and “Us girls could just let loose!” she’d say.
In addition to her husband Harvey of 50 years, surviving relatives include daughters Monica Johnson of Elma, Amanda (Tony) Leicht of Tenino, and son Adam Engler of Central Park. Grandchildren include Abbie Johnson, Owen Leicht, Noah Leicht, Micah Leicht, Kinsley Engler, and Hunter Engler; her Mom Shirrel Koepp of Hoquiam, brother Todd (Erin) Koepp of Billings, Montana and sister Nikki (Rick) Fielitz of Granite Bay, California.
Roxanne is preceded in death by her Dad, Edward Koepp.
There will be a visitation from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 14, 2024 and Friday, March 15, 2024 at the Coleman Mortuary in Hoquiam. Services with be held at Calvary Lutheran Church on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 1 p.m.
followed by a celebration of life in the Parish Hall. Cemetery service will be held on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 1 p.m. at Claquato Cemetery in Chehalis.
Donations can be made to Friends of the Hoquiam Timberland Library, 420 7th St., Hoquiam, WA 98550 or a charity of your choice.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to Hoquiam Fire & EMT, as well as the Emergency Department staff at Community Regional Hospital.
