Emily Gruen Seaman died on Feb. 4, 2009 at her home in Freeland, in the presence of family. She had celebrated her 90th birthday with all her family last November, and was living independently until her final two weeks.

Emily was born Nov. 22, 1918, in Cincinnati, Ohio, daughter of Emilie and George Gruen, president of the Gruen Watch Company.

She earned a registered nurse degree at the University of Cincinnati and received the top score in the state on her nursing board exams, going on to become a nursing instructor.

Emily met her future husband, Dr. Arthur Seaman, in chemistry class at the university, where they discovered some chemistry of their own. They were married, with a young daughter, when Arthur went to serve in the Army medical corps in World War II. After the war, they moved to Portland, Ore. and had two sons.

Husband Arthur had become a hematologist and internationally-known medical researcher by the time he took early retirement from medicine.

He and Emily moved to Whidbey Island in 1974 and opened the BookBay bookstore on Highway 525 at Freeland, which they ran for nearly 20 years, along with co-owner Charlotte Moffat, Arthur’s former research assistant.

Emily enjoyed using her ever-youthful soprano voice in choral groups, for many years with the Whidbey Island Chorale, and later in her church choir at

St. Augustine’s in-the-Woods Episcopal Church. Always quick with a laugh, she remained an active parish volunteer until the end.

Emily had been a world traveler since her childhood summers in Switzerland, visiting Europe again while in college. In 1954, Arthur got a Fulbright Scholarship to work with a researcher in Norway, so Emily and her three children, crossing by ocean liner, moved to Oslo for a year. Later, she accompanied her husband to international medical meetings in Japan, Iran, Australia and the Fiji Islands.

During her Whidbey Island years, she traveled with friends to Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.

Emily is survived by her three children, Pam Seaworthy, Rick Seaman, and Geoff Seaman; her five grandchildren, Jennifer Bolton, Anne Savage, Andrew Seaman, Josh Seaman and Arielle Cribb; and two great-grandchildren, Bijou Bolton and Roshawn Cribb; and two well-behaved lap dogs, Happy and Goatee, who are in need of a new home.

A memorial service for her will be held at St. Augustine’s in-the-Woods Church at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21.

In lieu of flowers, consider a remembrance to Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation or Habitat for Humanity.