Margaret Cecilia (Waham) Randish

Margaret Cecilia (Waham) Randish was born February 3, 1927 and passed on April 16, 2012. She was one of Bellevue’s founding families living on the family farm on 116th Ave. She was the last child born to parents George and Rose Waham, who raised chickens and produce and sold it the Seattle Public Market weekly, taking the Mosquito Fleet from Medina dock to Seattle. Her parents immigrated to Bellevue from Lebanon after their first-born daughter Elizabeth arrived. There they raised eight daughters and one son. Margaret was the only identical twin with her sister Marion (pictured on the right). She and her many sisters helped with the family farm.Margaret went to school in Bellevue from elementary through high school. After graduation Margaret worked in various retail jobs. She enjoyed interacting with people. She worked with cousins in a record store for Decca Records, and then worked for a local jeweler in Bellevue, where she would meet her future husband, Matthew J. Randish. Margaret and Matt married in June of 1949 in Bellevue at the original Sacred Heart Church. They raised a family in Bellevue, first daughter Joan, and then son Matthew. There were always many family functions with plenty of sisters and brothers and many cousins, wives and husbands all enjoying the food and family time together. Most of the immediate family lived in close proximity to each other where annual family reunions would be celebrated. Margaret enjoyed being a homemaker and a mother. She was an avid gardener and loved growing her vegetables and using them to make her wonderful Lebanese recipes. She also loved flowers and always had the most wonderful and meticulous gardens around her home. In 1983 soon after the arrival of their first-born grand- children, Jennifer then Christopher, to their son Matthew and wife Marie, Margaret and Matt decided to move to Bainbridge Island to be near them. They had a lovely home and garden on Yeomalt Point where Margaret could enjoy time with her grandchildren and continue with her gardening. Margaret made many friends on Bainbridge, enjoyed taking long walks in her neighborhood and getting to know them. Margaret was very close to her grandkids, which was the highlight of her life.Margaret and Matt in later years returned back to the Eastside in Kirkland in 2000. There they downsized to a condo, which was also close to their daughter Joan. There they stayed until Matt Sr’s passing in 2004. Margaret later moved back to Bainbridge Island to be near her son and daughter in law.Margaret always had a smile and generous heart to her friends and family, and will be greatly missed by them.Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend the memorial mass this Saturday, April 21 at St Cecilia’s Catholic Church on Bainbridge Island at 10am. Reception to follow. Graveside service will be held on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 10:30am at Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Bellevue. Please sign the online quest book at www.cookfamilyfuneralhome.com 613514