Lillian “Babe” Rasmussen

By Patty Rasmussen Van Vactor

As we start, I want to be clear that mom, Lillian, would have hated her funeral starting at 0900 AM. She liked to sleep in and early mass for her was the 11:00 service, or better yet 12:30. My mom was born in Libertyville, Illinois and she was known as “Babe” to her family because she shared her Mom’s name. She loved regaling tales of growing up as the daughter of a military officer as they moved frequently, and she often lived in either boarding schools or at her grandparents Brown in Waukegan, Illinois, to keep stability in her schooling. Moving took her to military bases in virtually every state as well as the Philippines and Japan as a teen, where they were among the first US military families stationed there after the end of WWII, so that her father could serve in the Philippines on the Japanese military war tribunals. Mom was smart as a whip and had an incredible memory for names and events of her life and loved sharing those. One of her favorite tales was that of her family leaving Japan on a military transport ship, when a typhoon hit and grounded the ship for several days before it sailed back to San Francisco. She then started her senior year in high school in Washington DC, as her father was stationed at Ft. Meyer, and she had to write a paper about her summer activities. The nun returned her paper saying that her tale of the grounded ship was fabricated and outlandish…only to have mom return to school the next day with the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle detailing the very event complete with photos of the ship coming under the Golden Gate bridge! She has tales of meeting General Doolittle at a party given by her parents. She lived in Japan and reminisced about learning to drive there in a military jeep. Mom met my dad at Fort Lewis here in Washington, where her dad was also stationed. After a wedding at Fort Huachuca, Arizona and exiting the church under the military sabers she transitioned to life as an officer’s wife and she took those duties seriously. She held many formal teas for the wives and could tell you the tea pouring protocol…heaven help the poor woman would did not pour according to the wives ranking…General’s wife first. She committed much time to service. At West Point they would “adopt” a plebe and make sure that they were treated to home cooked meals. When Dad was in Vietnam, he sent word that a nearby village had been burned so she solicited donations of clothing and sent many boxes of clothing back to him. She was extremely proud of being a mom to Mike, who was born at Fort Benning and Patty, who came along 6 years later at West Point, where she and Dad made many lifelong friends. She had a fun sense of humor and would gleefully speak in German, feigning no knowledge of English, to any telemarketer who dared disturb her! German that she had picked up during the family’s tour of duty in Frankfurt and Butzbach. She has many treasures from her life of travels from a tea cup collection to an antique inkwell collection (hundreds…) even recently adding another to the collection. She was

Lillian “Babe” Rasmussen

By Patty Rasmussen Van Vactor

ready to pick up and move at a moment’s notice and often joked that she always kept one box packed, because as soon as she finally unpacked the last box to settle in, dad would get his transfer orders to the next duty station. She held up the home life when my dad was sent to Korea and later to Vietnam, living on the Monterey Peninsula when he was gone, where she drew strength from the beauty of the ocean. She was always game to learn and try new things. Her avid passion for reading was passed down to all of us, and her house was always filled with books, and she would often read until the wee hours of the morning, and she allowed us to read at breakfast and lunch, but never dinner. Before dad passed he was teaching computer programming and had been “agonizing” over buying an Apple computer or a PC for personal use, and he was researching every point, which drove mom nuts! After his passing she quickly ordered a Gateway, and became very computer savvy, spending many hours researching the family tree. She was a woman of many talents, from painting to stitchery, and my brother and I followed her lead. No Christmas is complete without the beautiful ceramic creche made by mom. One year we made every gift…with my brother sewing and making stuffed animals and I made pillows with crewel work. She and Mike poured and made fancy candles. She received certifications in jewelry making and interior design from Monterey Peninsula College and often wore pendants of her own creation. She has a footlocker full of bowling trophies and walls filled with art, some of her own! She skied and played basketball, tennis and golf, and rode horses. She volunteered with both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Her hardest part of being a mom was saying goodbye to Mike when he passed away at age 41 from Type 1 Diabetes. She has missed him incredibly and her passing on his birthday is comforting. Mom was a cooking prodigy of the 50’s which meant canned vegetables and fruits. Dinner was always meat, potatoes and the dreaded can of peas or carrots. She was the master of leftovers and we have laughed many times at her attempts to make stew, only to have me pick out the canned onions, peas and carrots. She always believed meat should be well cooked and you can grimace with me when you envision an hour for pork chops. She was astounded that I could make them so tender. She loved to add a bit of liqueur to an ice cream parfait and would sneak orange zest into frosting. One of her favorite stories was when I was in 5th grade at Catholic school in Virginia, she made a Duncan Hines cake for the school bake sale. I came home from school and told her that Sister had specially chosen her cake for the Bishop! She was horrified, revealing that this had been one of her only cake fails. The cake had split down the middle and she had pieced it back together with frosting and had sent it figuring…just a bake sale! Her legacy meal is the Christmas Eve meal which was meant to be the “fast” before the “feast” of Christmas. Like her parents, she gleefully made oyster stew…which was canned oysters in a thin milk base. She and my Dad loved it while my brother and I sustained ourselves on the dry crackers and prayed for the arrival of Christmas day. Relenting to this I have continued her tradition, but we each get to pick which canned soup (of course) that we want and I add some cheese to those crackers.

Lillian “Babe” Rasmussen

By Patty Rasmussen Van Vactor

One of Mom’s proudest moments was returning to college when Patty was also in college. She took some classes at Monterey Peninsula College where Patty was attending, with Patty getting strict instruction that she should call her Lillian if our paths crossed. Mom did not want to be left behind academically and drove from Pebble Beach, where they had retired, to UC Santa Cruz to complete her bachelor’s degree in Art History. She was cheered by her family at graduation and she always had fun with the fact that the school mascot was the Banana Slugs, and in fact was wearing a “Fighting Banana Slug” collegiate shirt that she had just gotten for her birthday when she gently passed. Mom loved life on the Monterey Peninsula. She was a volunteer at the museum and spent time as an intern there. She was also active in AAUW and was a member of an antiques group. She was a proud initial Member of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and our kids have spent countless hours visiting the Aquarium with her. One of her favorite things was volunteering as a docent at the Cooper Molera Adobe in Monterey, especially for Christmas in the Adobes, when she was dressed for the period. She was a huge part of my children’s lives and had a special bond with each. She loved to hunt for beanie babies with Jack when he was younger and they would walk all over Carmel in the hunt for the special one. Later they shared a joint passion for art, books and history. She was a radiant Grandma when she watched Jack marry Alysse at the San Carlos Cathedral in Monterey, which she had attended for many years. Mom loved to tell Kerry all the stories about her animals growing up including a flying squirrel she had as a pet when her father was stationed in northern Wisconsin. Kerry and mom have shared a love of birdwatching which was elevated to a different level between the two of them, as both love the hummingbirds, blue jays and towhees. Kerry’s graduation at WSU required lots of walking so to my mom’s chagrin we rented a wheelchair and Mom was given special seating. She shocked the lady next to her when she leapt to her feet in excitement as Kerry’s name was called. Mom was excited when Kristen was born and was enthralled to have a redhead in the family. Her favorite story about Kristen was the Christmas when Kristen was 3. Kristen was sitting on my Mom’s lap a few days before Christmas and Mom asked her what Santa was bringing her. Kristen told her very seriously that he would be bringing a Hello Kitty suitcase. Knowing the impossibility of finding such a gift, Mom asked her how she knew that Santa would bring that. Kristen responded “Well, God told me”. . . Needless to say a frantic hunt ensued and a lone Hello Kitty suitcase was found on, of all things, my brother’s birthday. Kristen and Mom shared a love of fashion and travel and Kristen helped Mom pick out her kitty, Joey who never ceases to entertain. She welcomed Ross to the family and they would share tales about the Philippines, where he grew up in a missionary family. When she came to live with us, he opened his arms to his new “roommate”. She got a bang out of his ongoing fight with trying to

Lillian “Babe” Rasmussen

By Patty Rasmussen Van Vactor

outwit the squirrels at the birdfeeders. She loved to tell tales about her cousins and her love of family sparked an interest in genealogy, and she could talk your ear off about the extensive Brown, Duggan and Rasmussen families, with an uncanny recall of details of events. She was smart as a whip and loved lively conversation and debate on topics from politics to art. Mom moved to Washington after both my Dad and brother had passed away, but she never fully embraced being a pacific Northwesterner…jokingly referring to Bothell as the Bottom of Hell, as compared to her beloved home of Monterey and Pebble Beach. We have returned many times and have driven along the ocean and spent time at her special beach in front of the house we lived in when Dad was in Vietnam. She inhaled the beauty and missed it dearly. She will have her final resting place there in the waves. She was my hero. We loved her incredibly.