Alice Vernelia Huney

90, a long-time Island resident, died at home on May 18 with her daughters Judy and Suzan by her side. Her daughters, granddaughters and sons-in-law had been caring for her at home with the help of Kitsap County Hospice since Alice's heart attack on May 12. Alice was born on March 23, 1917, in Ray, North Dakota, to Cora and Wesley Cooper, the sixth child of eight. In 1928, while working at Hogan's Restaurant in Williston, North Dakota, a H.J. Heinz Company traveling salesman, Judd Huney, caught her heart. She and Judd were married in Seattle in 1942. At the end of WWII they moved to Bainbridge Island and opened their first grocery store at Pleasant Beach. In 1947 they bought the Lynwood Grocery Store. In 1961 they sold their grocery business, and started coin-operated dry cleaning businesses on Bainbridge and in Poulsbo.Alice was a member of the Rolling Bay Presbyterian Church where she served in numerous ways - elder, Sunday school teacher, church camp counselor, building fund-raising committee, memorial service committee, and Steven's Ministry committee that provided caring outreach to anyone in the community.Alice was an honorary member of the Bainbridge Island Rotary Club. (Her husband Judd was a charter member.) She worked at all but one of the Rotary Auctions, where she sorted dishes and cooking wares, priced goods and worked the cash register, often lowering the price for a neighbor she knew was in need.Alice was a life-long learner; most recently she attended a weekend retreat on life transitions. She took writing, Tai Chi and Yoga classes; tried new recipes and made the best blackberry pies; and picked up knitting and needlepoint in recent years. She was an avid gardener. Nothing ever died in Alice's garden. One of her last tasks was planting strawberries. She loved to travel and the adventure and beauty of new places.Alice was a quiet listener. People were drawn to her by her compassion and also by her sage advice - don't sweat the small stuff, don't close doors, listen, open your heart. Alice believed in doing and she visited the sick and lonely, wrote notes to those in need of a cheery thought or prayer, and phoned her friends and acquaintances to let them know she was thinking of them.She had an unending abundance of humor - water fights, dying her hair purple, crazy dress-ups, sewing her young daughter's pajama legs shut while on a camping trip.Alice is survived by her daughters Judy Kutz (Jim), Suzan Huney (Earl), and JoAnne Huney; granddaughters Cara Huney-Krause, Jee Young and Jee Sook Kutz; grandsons Mark Frohnauer, Daniel, Nathan and Davi Kutz; seven great-grandchildren; her best friend and sister Betty Johnson and Betty's husband Russ, sister Ruth Lohrer, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.Her beloved husband of 61 years died in 2004.In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Bainbridge Island Rotary Club's Judd Huney Fund, a special fund created for large community projects (P.O. Box 11286, Bainbridge Island). Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend a celebration of Alice's life on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 2:00 PM at Rollingbay Presbyterian Church [Map]. A reception will follow.Arrangements by Cook Family Funeral Home.