Obituaries — March 16, 2022

Maria Aparecida Neuharth

October 7, 1943

February 10, 2022

, age 78, passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 10, 2022, at her home in Sequim, Washington.

Maria was born on October 7, 1943, in the City of Mococa, São Paulo, Brazil, the second of eight children of João Marques de Araújo, a farmer of mestizo descent, and Ignes Benedita Lucri, a daughter of Italian immigrants. They led a simple life. Like her father, she married a child of immigrants, Muhammad Awad, a son of an Arab family, in 1964, and soon the young couple themselves, immigrated to the USA.

Amicably divorced a few years later, Maria chose to stay in California, become a citizen, and establish her own clothing sales business. Once she told her nephew and godson Fabricio Cristiano that she only earned $1 per pair of Levis but sold a thousand pairs a day. She gave him a piece of advice, which he has never forgotten: “Earn little, out of many.”

Always full of energy, it was while bustling around building up her business that Maria met another recent divorcee, Gene Neuharth. The two fell in love, married, and moved to Sequim in the early 1970s, Maria becoming a loving stepmother to Gene’s kids. Maria and Gene established the area’s first winery, Neuharth Winery, producing their first vintages in the late 1970s. They converted an old dairy barn just off Still Road southeast of town and made fine dinner wines where milk used to flow. In addition to running the business with Gene, Maria was often behind the bar in the tasting room, chatting with their guests and filling their glasses with Merlot, White Zinfandel, and their proprietary blends of Dungeness Red and White, created with grapes grown on the winery property. After Gene passed away in 1993, marking the saddest point in Maria’s life, she sold Neuharth Winery, which is now known as Olympic Cellars.

Maria was a resilient human being. She loved growing flowers (especially her beautiful roses), fruits and vegetables in her garden, cooking delicacies and sharing them, swimming, and walking – she put in literally hundreds of miles around Carrie Blake Park. She continued to work in a number of jobs and spend time with family and friends, such as Denise Parkwell and Bill Wood. Bill, her good neighbor and dear friend for many years, will miss Maria very much. So will Denise, who has daughterly love for Maria, and, as promised, stayed by her side until her final breath. With a strong faith in Jesus, Maria was a vital member of the Little Brown Church in Blyn for 48 years. Pastor Steve Devine, a close family friend since the 1970’s, describes her as an exuberantly grateful child of God, whether in good times or adverse passages in her life. She has been an excellent example of Heaven’s culture in human form.

Maria was preceded by Gene, her stepson Mike Neuharth and granddaughter Kristin Nichols, and is survived by her stepchildren Tim Neuharth of Courtland, CA, Jay Neuharth of Wheaton, IL, Amy Nichols and Pam Neuharth, of Tempe, AZ, as well as 25 grandchildren and great grandchildren, plus many, many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her siblings Silvia Helena de Araújo, João Vicente Sobrinho, Maria Lúcia de Araújo and Luiz Carlos de Araújo. Below is a tribute sent from Brazil.

“There are tears in our eyes as we write, her family in Brazil, formed by her brothers and sisters, in particular her sister Lúcia, who is suffering a lot from the idea of not being able to talk to her like she used to on most days. Lucia is Maria’s dearest sister, friend and confidant. And her nephews: Diná Malavase, Carlos Alberto Malavase, Célio Felício Malavase, Alberto de Araújo, Ricardo de Araújo, Ayrton Luiz Mei Filho and Fabricio Cristiano de Oliveira Andrade and also her grand-nephews: Letícia Hee Andrade and Davi Hee Andrade, we say goodbye to our beloved Maria. We say goodbye to her knowing that one day we will be together in our true home with our Father. And it is with a broken heart that we send our deep sadness for not being able to be present with you all at this time. But, we will be with you in our thoughts and prayers, spiritually present on this tribute for our dear sister, aunt, and great aunt. This is how we will forever remember our lovely Maria: an example of the joy of living!! A great friend! With her faith in God, she won many battles and comforted and warmed many hearts with her love. Her unforgettable smile will always be present in our memories.”

We will celebrate Maria’s life on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 1:00pm at The Little Brown Church of Blyn, 220 Zaccardo Rd, Sequim, Washington, 98382. Any inquiries may be directed to Pastor Steve Devine at (360) 461-0281.

Weston Waldron Haskell

March 20, 1928

March 4, 2022

Weston Haskell

WESTON HASKELL (WES) was born in the City of Orange Township, Essex County, New Jersey to Lena Edna Waldron and Raymond Arnold Haskell, whom he often fondly referred to as “Pop”. Being gifted with a brilliant mind, Wes became a dedicated student and, after attending Duke University, as an undergrad for 3 years, he went on to achieve a PHD in Petroleum Chemistry in 2 years at Princeton University. Wes served his country joining the regular army, based in Hawaii, from June 1946 to April 1949. He married Dorothea Gosnell “Kit” and they had two children “Cindy” and “Patrick”. Sadly they divorced in l963 and Weston re-married Diana Bremer in 1965, who gave him another son “Walter”.

Wes became a Research Scientist for Shell Oil Company and moved his entire family over to their depot in Chester, England, where they lived for 3 years. Wes continued to work for Shell in various States throughout the USA, spending most of his career in Houston, Texas. After 36 years, he retired in December l992. Wes then set up his own company named “Haskell Pharmaceuticals” and continued his passion for research. In 2005, Wes discovered that green pecan shucks contained an antiseptic property that could fight against MRSA which, undoubtedly, could save millions of lives in hospitals and on the battle field. Wes managed to obtain a grant of $40,000 for Methodist Hospital Lab Houston to conduct clinical trials on his discovery but, regrettably, he was not able to obtain further sponsorship from DARPA.

Ironically, Wes contracted this deadly infection during the last days of his life!

Weston had a vivid imagination and, during his retirement, he went on to write several part fictional books including “The Mendocino Chapter” and “An Interesting Companion”.

He also became President of the Art Society in Houston and was often invited to be a Judge at several Science and Engineering Fairs. In 20l5, at the age of 87, Wes re-married a British lady, living in Spain, named Kathryn Wilson. The couple moved to Sequim and had their wedding ceremony in the garden of their new home “Dreamland” in Highland Hills, this estate being built by the Bell family from Scotland. Co-incidentally, after marrying, they discovered that they both had Scottish heritage dating back to “Robert the Bruce”, who was the King of Scotland

during the l2th century. Consequently, the couple decided to name their newly adopted cat “Mr. Bruce”. Wes enjoyed traveling extensively with his younger wife to Spain, Alaska, Florida, California, Mexico, Hawaii and Canada, during the “golden years” of his life.

Being a water sign, Wes loved the sea and enjoyed many years sailing his yacht in Galveston Bay. The newly wed couple also joined the Sequim Bay Yacht Club and enjoyed sailing their jointly owned 32 ft yacht named “New Frontiers”. Wes was a great athlete and received several awards for swimming, enjoying other water sports like ski-ing and scuba diving.

Sadly, he died on 4th March, 2022, in Highland Court Nursing Home, Port Angeles, only 2 weeks from reaching his 94th birthday. Wes had been an avid jogger since the age of 26 and this physical fitness program surely contributed to his longevity. Wes was very sociable, fun loving, with an extremely young spirit behind his blue sparkling eyes, as well as heart of GOLD.

He will be sadly missed by all who knew him and is survived by two sons and four grandchildren. As he wanted to be cremated, his wife is going to ensure that he receives a full military honor’s burial at sea by the local Coastguards. MAY HE REST IN PEACE!