Celeste Marie Taigen

CELESTE: A LIFE TO CELEBRATE Celeste Marie (Purcell) Taigen, beloved wife of Lou Taigen, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother (Gigi), sister, aunt, and friend to many passed away on Tuesday, October 14, 2014. Born in Kimball, South Dakota on November 20, 1926, Celeste was welcomed as the only daughter by her thrilled parents Rob and Kathryn (Gavin) Purcell, and older brothers, Dick and Wayne. Even as a little girl, her special spirit was noticed by all – with her Irish blue eyes, joyful delight in anything social, and a smile that lit up any room. Growing up during the Depression did not dampen her happy spirit, but never quite left her as evidenced by her penchant for freezing every leftover, reusing any Styrofoam cup, and never, ever eating mutton (lamb) again. Her family called her ""Tot,"" a name that continued throughout her life, but was only used by the Purcells, and Lou, who called her ""Tottie Marie."" When Celeste's brothers both joined the war, the family moved from tiny Kimball to Aberdeen, Washington where Celeste became a ""yell queen"" at the much bigger Weatherwax High School. After high school, Celeste attended Virginia Mason to earn her RN degree. She made lifelong friends at both schools, meeting up with them at every reunion over 60 years. Celeste and Lou loved reunions of any kind, also making sure to attend any of Lou's school reunions and Foote reunions for those who served on the U.S.S. Foote with Lou in the South Pacific during WWII. Celeste was working as a nurse when she met Lou Taigen just after the war. It was love at first sight (or perhaps love at ""first rescue"" as her claims of being able to ""swim a little"" were overly confident.) Lou became the love of her life and center of her world, and the same was true for him. If ever asked, Lou would tell anyone that the best thing he ever did in his life was marry Celeste. They were true soul mates and showed their wonderful love in the way they lived every day. Celeste and Lou were married on October 22, 1948, an event they and the family celebrated each year with big family gatherings. Lou and Celeste lived an eventful life as his career with Chevron Oil meant moving almost every year, living in Seattle, Olympia, and Centralia, WA; Sunnyvale, CA; Kailua, Oahu; Kenniwick and Spokane, WA; Wilton, CT; Westfield, NJ; and Englewood, CO. They finally settled in Hillsborough, CA for the last decade of Lou's career and first two decades of his retirement, with a much-loved getaway house in Lake Wildwood, CA. Through all those years and moves, Celeste was both the engineer and the soul that made the family work. She was a role model for positive thinking and enthusiasm. New challenges and new faces just meant new opportunities – and as they moved her list of friends grew longer. Those friends felt the loyalty of her friendship; she never let a friend drift away. When the children had grown, Celeste and Lou began an exciting empty-nest life, which included traveling around the world. Their annual trips had them visiting hundreds of cities and dozens of countries on every continent, even Antarctica. They loved planning each new trip, and cherished the new experiences and new cultures, making new friends, of course, as the added bonus from each exciting trip. Celeste's other interests included playing bridge, golf (especially golfing trips with friends), playing dominos with Lou (for which they kept a 30 year record of their scores), and cooking the family's favorite treats (including brownies, split pea soup, and strawberry jam). She also loved any party or get together, but especially those that needed dressing up, where she would usually be wearing her favorite color: blue. Her contagious enthusiasm added spirit to every party. But the center of Celeste's life was always her family. She relished every connection and worked to get together with family as often as possible. She was in daily contact with her children, Tim and his wife Joyce, Ted and his wife Jan, and Kathy and her husband Jim. Those spouses would testify to how much they felt her love and welcome. Her grandchildren also knew that special love -- feeling treasured with every interaction and celebrated at every step of their lives. She and Lou traveled, with delight, to every graduation and wedding, and indulged the family with trips to the lake, Hawaii, Mexico, and Greece. But most of all, her children and grandchildren felt nurtured by the intensity of her interest and love. A booklet of memories on Celeste's 80th birthday described her ability to make every person feel like their little story was the most fascinating thing she had ever heard. She made every person feel that important. In the last decade, the family also included great grandchildren, who called her ""Gigi"" and who also felt cherished by her special love. Grandchildren and greats include Jennifer and Dave Marcus and Emma Celeste and Bryce of Westminster, Colorado; Tera and Sean Greene and Gavin and Braeden of Broomfield, Colorado; Melissa Taigen of Denver, Colorado; Lauren Taigen of Fort Collins, Colorado; Tyler and Suzanne Taigen and Will, Eliza, and Caroline of Shaker Heights, Ohio; Travis and Laura Taigen and Madelyn and Louis Taigen II of Glastonbury, Connecticut; Emily Taigen and fiancé Matt Lenowicz of Manhattan, New York; and Tracy Taigen Saracino of Orange County, California. In their later years, Celeste and Lou lived at Magnolia of Millbrae, California and then moved to Centennial to be close to their Colorado family. Old age has had some challenges for the two of them, but Celeste managed those challenges, as she always did, with kindness, patience, and amazing grace in a beautiful testament to her love for Lou, her husband of 66 years. She treasured a saying that ""old age, when filled with love, will keep you young."" Her life was filled with love and did keep her young in spirit and joy. When given her Last Rites, the priest pronounced ""Well done, Celeste."" Well done, indeed. Celeste will be missed by her many friends, her brother Wayne Purcell and her sister-in- law Grace Purcell, both of Longview, Washington, nieces and nephews – the Purcells who called her Aunt Tot and the Taigens who called her Auntie Celeste. But most of all, she will be missed and mourned by her family -- her much loved children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and her wonderful Lou. Celeste would say to Lou, a dozen times a day, ""How lucky we are, Lou."" But truly we are the lucky ones for all the ways she brought joy to our lives. We will mourn losing Celeste, but most of all, let us celebrate her wonderful life and how lucky we were to be part of it.