The Suburban Times

A community bulletin board for Western Pierce County.

  • Home
  • To Know
  • To Do
  • To Ponder
  • Obituaries
  • Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • More
    • Share your story
    • Submit an Event
    • Contact

Around the Sound: Tillicum woman marks milestone birthday

August 18, 2013 By Nancy Covert

Story by Nancy Covert, Photo by Christina Klaas

Virginia Maas of Tillicum marked her centennial birthday this past week. It was her wish to keep the occasion “low key.”

A life-long resident of the community founded two years before she was born, the regal-looking, spry woman marked the occasion by greeting a few friends and enjoying the greeting cards and floral arrangements that were delivered to her home in mid August.

Jim Taylor, representing the Tillicum Neighborhood Association, presented a card signed by Neighborhood Members, and a commemorative City of Lakewood Commemorative Coin. Christina Klas served as “official photographer” for the occasion. Virginia’s brother, Gordon, (15 years younger) and his wife, Janelle, also were there

HBD100

Virginia Maas

Virginia, who moved to the northwest in the early 1920s with her parents from New Hampshire, married John Maas, son of their next-door-neighbor in their Woodbrook neighborhood.

“Before there was a freeway.”

During WW II, the couple “found themselves in the rental business in the 40s when housing for incoming GIs and their spouses was in short supply. Their property contained several small sheds. When desperate soldiers stopped by asking whether the Maases would rent the empty buildings, they reluctantly agreed. That was the start of a “rental” business that eventually grew to five properties.

In the 1970s, Mrs. Maas wrote about places and people around the area for the News Tribune’s Sunday magazine. Because she wrote so many articles, her editor suggested she use a pseudonym, so some of her stories have appeared under the name of “Jean Hargrove.” She estimates that she wrote about 350 articles.

She also wrote two novels: Castle Cragg: a Gothic novel set in Pt. Townsend; the other was “One Room and a Path” a fictional account about owning rental properties during WW II; that includes anecdotes such as an account about one tenant who used her downstairs wash basins as a “tub.” It also included the hilarious tale about a “can do” meal.

A third book, a saga about three families, she says will never “see the light of day.” “I could paper my walls with rejection letters,” she laughed.

“One Room and a Path,” is available through Pierce County Library System. The recorded book takes eight hours to listen to.

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Comments

  1. David Anderson says

    August 19, 2013 at 2:07 pm

    Oops! You would think I would get my own daughter’s married name spelled correctly! The photographer is Christina Klas. Thanks for doing the story Nancy and for making this happen Jim! And for posting it Ben!

    • Ben Sclair says

      August 19, 2013 at 5:00 pm

      Yeah, and you think I’d have caught it. Regardless, her name is now correctly spelled. Sorry Christina…

Top Stories

  • Some Pierce County restaurants open dining rooms under new open-air rules
    Some Pierce County restaurants open dining rooms under new open-air rules
  • What's Next, Tahoma Beer? - Name Changes . . . for the good
    What's Next, Tahoma Beer? - Name Changes . . . for the good
  • Lakewood Police Officer Fires Weapon On Duty
    Lakewood Police Officer Fires Weapon On Duty
  • Mass COVID vaccination sites planned for Pierce County
    Mass COVID vaccination sites planned for Pierce County
  • More COVID-19 vaccine eligibility and access points to end the pandemic
    More COVID-19 vaccine eligibility and access points to end the pandemic

Become a better informed citizen.

Join over 30,000 readers each month and get real-local news and information direct to your inbox, Monday-Saturday.


Recent Comments

  • Brett on What's Next, Tahoma Beer? – Name Changes . . . for the good
  • Beverly P Isenson on Watch the 18th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration – Virtual Event Here
  • Sunny Park (Mr.) on Strickland Commemorates Korean American Day
  • Mary W. Hammond on Across the Fence: Inauguration
  • David Anderson on Letter: One Interesting Catch

Contact Us

The Suburban Times
P.O. Box 39099
Lakewood, WA 98496

Ben Sclair, Publisher
253-312-1804

Stephen Neufeld, Marketing Executive
stephen@thesubtimes.com

Copyright © 2021 The Suburban Times • Log in • Privacy Policy

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.