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Described by many as a Renaissance Woman, Elizabeth “Missy” Fletcher Barlow passed away peacefully in Forks, WA, on October 1, 2010, at the age of 90. Missy was the granddaughter of one of the first white settlers on the Hoh River, John and Dora Heulsdonk. John Huelsdonk was the renowned “Iron Man of the Hoh.”

Her mother, Lena Huelsdonk Fletcher, was the first white child born in the area.

Missy was born on August 29, 1920, as the second of six children to Fred and Lena Fletcher. Her mother temporarily left their isolated homestead on the Hoh River to seek medical care for her birth in Burlington, WA. Lena then returned to the Hoh River homestead to raise her family. Missy attended the one room Lower Hoh School for seven years. The original schoolhouse still stands on the family homestead near the mouth of the Hoh River. She then attended the Quillayute High School in Forks and graduated in 1937 at age 16. Missy’s mother encouraged her to extend her education by attending college, something that was

uncommon for a girl in that day and age to go to college, and especially for one living in such a rural community.

In 1937, she attended the University of Washington, majoring in Botany. During the summer months, Missy worked at the family’s Ruby Beach Resort (before

the property was taken by Olympic National Park) in order to pay for schooling. She also worked as an au pair during her college years. It was at the U of W

where Missy met her husband, Charles “Charlie” Barlow. They decided to get married between quarters in March 1941. After they both graduated that summer, they lived on a houseboat on the

Willamette River near Portland, Oregon, where Charlie worked in a shipyard. It was in Portland where all three of their daughters, Elizabeth, Barbara and Kathy, were born. In 1948 they moved back to the Hoh River homestead where she lived all but the last two years of her life. They purchased Missy’s parents’ farm, which Missy ran while

Charlie worked in the timber industry.

Missy had the first and only 4-H fishery program in the United States. They raised fish and helped stock the Lower Hoh River with steelhead and Nolan Creek with chinook salmon. She also developed a forestry 4-H project for nine years. Based upon her love of gardening and her educational background in botany, Missy developed two different

types of potatoes, one of which was identical to the Yukon Gold; the other a cross between an Ozette potato from Dickey Lake and a purple potato. Missy was a reluctant hunter, but accumulated many antlers from years worth of hunting.

In 1955, she shot a 500-pound bull elk, butchered it herself and made elk hamburger and jerky for the family.

At age 40, Missy began developing her interest in art. She became a talented, multifaceted professional artist, and is best known for her water colors, oil and acrylic paintings, and the ultimate recycled art

technique she perfected using different colors of dryer lint. She found creative inspiration in just about anything, from rusty chain-saw chains to gnarled pieces of wood. She displayed much of her work in local galleries and in her own art studio near the original homestead on the Hoh River. She

also displayed her work in a variety of regional shows and fairs, which won her many ribbons which, instead of displaying, she humbly kept in two large glass jars.

Missy had a great sense of humor and enjoyed puns. One time she painted a picture of her brother, John, standing in a hayfield and entitled the piece, “John Outstanding in His Field.” During Christmas time, she had a bullet casing hanging on a bare branch and called it “A Cartridge In A Bare Tree.” She also created “The Spotted Dowel,” a short piece of doweling painted with spots to signify a controversial issue in the West End.

Missy loved taking anyone for a stroll out in the woods, picking any form of edible plant and teaching the person about the simple things in life. She especially enjoyed taking people to visit the wild cranberry bogs near the Hoh River, explaining the carnivorous plant life and picking wild cranberries. To celebrate her 85th birthday, she crossed the Hoh River balancing herself on a fallen log. She remarked to her audience that the crossing was “much easier without the axe”, as she had to whack

branches off on her first crossing. Missy truly lived life to the fullest and was a fixture of the Lower Hoh River and well-known to the fishermen who ventured down Oil City Road.

She is survived by her three daughters, Elizabeth and her husband Gary Velie of Port Angeles, Barbara and her husband Richard Belton of Enumclaw and Kathy and her husband David Dickson who live at the family’s homestead on the Hoh River. She is also survived by her brother Rocky Fletcher and his wife Barbara of Forks, her brother Fred Fletcher of Forks and her sister Mary Huelsdonk and her husband Bob of the Hoh River; and sister-in-law Mary Ellen Fletcher of Forks. Additionally she has six grandchildren: Steven Velie and his wife Petra of Kingston, Charles Velie and his wife Susan of

Port Angeles, Julie Johnson and her husband Troy of Enumclaw, Kari Desser and her husband Jim of Tetonia, Idaho, Jennifer Pearson and her husband Gary of Snohomish, WA, and Elizabeth Shuckhart and her husband Joe of Tacoma. She has six great-grandchildren, Claudia and Rocco Velie, Kolbi and

Alec Johnson, Ella Desser and the newest member of the family, Elise Pearson, born September 15, 2010, many cousins and extended family, along with the countless friends she made. Missy was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Lena Fletcher, her husband, Charlie Barlow, and brothers John and

Alvin Fletcher.

At her request, there will be no services held at this time. A remembrance celebration will be held for family and friends at a later date. She will be interred at the Hoh family cemetery near her beloved home. In lieu of flowers, Missy requested that

memorial contributions can be made to the North Olympic Library System, 1210 S. Peabody Street, Port Angeles, WA 98362, and the Forks Timber Museum, 1413 S. Forks

Avenue, Forks, WA 98331. The family also wishes to extend heartfelt gratitude to Laurel Park Assisted Living, and to the wonderful staff at the Forks Long Term Care

facility that made her last months as comfortable as possible.Their gift of kindness was beyond measure.

Please sign the online guest book at www.drennanford.com

Elizabeth “Missy” Fletcher Barlow