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Elizabeth Sears
October 29, 1925 June 29, 2021
Biology & Zoology
Liz Sears Obituary (1925 - 2021) - Everett, WA - The Herald (Everett) (legacy.com)
Elizabeth (Liz) Sears died peacefully at home on June 29, 2021, after a long and inspiring life of teaching, mentoring, and giving to others, always striving to improve this world.
Born in Eatonville, WA to Robert and Jane Goodfellow, at the age of three she moved to Cathlamet, WA where her father set up the first pharmacy in Wahkiakum County. After graduating from Wahkiakum High School, she attended the University of Washington, majoring in pre-med/ pharmacy.
After marrying Warren Sears, she put her education on hold to raise their son, Craig, and daughter, Kathleen.
Following her divorce, Liz resumed her studies, receiving a secondary science teaching certificate at Western Washington College and a Master’s in Education at the University of Washington. Enthralled by the natural beauty and good schools in Edmonds, she accepted a job teaching science at Edmonds Junior High (now the Edmonds Center for the Arts).
It soon became clear that teaching science was her true calling and passion. In 1963 she was recruited to help set up the science department at the new Meadowdale High School, where she taught biology, marine biology, zoology, and botany. She wrote most of her own curriculum materials, was a pioneer in environmental and outdoor education in the Edmonds School District, and was the first science teacher in the district to take students on extended field trips.
Her summers alternated between teaching science and environmental education classes at Central and Western Washington Colleges and the University of Washington and conducting scientific research in such far-flung places as the Galapagos Islands, Mongolia, Ethiopia, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, and Kenya. The knowledge she gained she brought back to her classroom to share with her students, who marveled at her adventurous spirit.
In 1975, Liz received the well-deserved honor of Washington State Teacher of the Year. Affectionately nicknamed “Mother Nature,” she was beloved by her students, many of whom credited her with inspiring their future careers and who continued to visit her at her home up to the time of her death.
Liz was active in local environmental advocacy, especially protecting the Edmonds’ waterfront and beaches. After the Shoreline Management Act was passed in 1972, she served on the Shoreline Management Citizen’s Advisory Committee, charged with developing guidelines for its implementation. As a member of the Brackett’s Landing Task Force, she lobbied to make Brackett’s Landing a marine sanctuary. For many years, the Edmonds’ waterfront was a valuable resource for her marine biology classes.
After retiring from Meadowdale High School, Liz continued to be an active teacher and learner. She taught in China for three years and was awarded Shanghai’s prestigious Golden Magnolia Award for her outstanding educational contributions. Locally, she volunteered for the Edmonds Library “Talk Time” program to help English language learners, taught and took classes at the Edmonds Community College Creative Retirement Institute, served on the scholarship committee for the American Association of University Women, and continued to be a strong voice for preserving the natural beauty of Edmonds. She was a Buddhist and Unitarian. Liz Sears was an extraordinary person, admired and respected by those who knew her professionally and deeply loved by her family, friends, students, and the many dogs she rescued and cared for over the years.
She is survived by her children, Craig Sears (Evonne) and Kathleen Sears (Bob Mazelow), honorary daughters Terry DiJoseph and Annie Hong Zhang, sister Merrie Emmons (Bud), and many nieces and nephews.
Liz’s family would like to thank Evergreen Hospice for the excellent care they provided in her final days.
Supporting women in science and protecting animals was extremely important to Liz so the family suggests those who wish to make a charitable contribution in her honor consider a donation to the SnoKing American Association of University Women awarding scholarships to female students pursuing a career in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math field (Foundation A3E, P.O. Box 722, Lynnwood, WA 980369998) or to an animal welfare organization of your choice.
Karyl Hansen (MHS 1967) Posted on June 30, 2021 on the MHS 1967 website, " I wanted to pass along the news that our wonderful science teacher Mrs. Sears passed away yesterday, June 29, 2021. I believe she was 95. What an amazing person and adventurous spirit she was. I reconnected with her several years ago and spent many wonderful hours at her home sharing stories and memories from our years after Meadowdale. There is a big hole in my heart today, and I know many others of you cared about her as well."
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Michael Hilton (Teacher)
Liz Sears was a dedicated and energetic teacher and person. That she made many lifelong friends among her students isn't even a little surprising.
I can't pinpoint the year for this story, but it shows her commitment to her calling. She obtained -- at her own expense -- several rather rare apple trees that she planted and maintained in the area just South of her classroom. Some apples fell and were tossed at the building by a few students. A custodian -- after cleaning up the mess -- reported the incident to the Principal. His answer: Cut the trees down. Her answer: Outrage and a direct upbraiding of the Principal's action. Was she gutsy over the incident? You betcha she was. The Principal at issue here was "taught" an important lesson about Liz Sears.
Judy Harris (Rainbolt)
Hearing this makes me sad. I had no clue how interesting 'Biology' was before I knew her. She was a wonderful teacher and made each day interesting. I looked forward to being in her class. When I think of her I picture her sticking her pencil thru her hair. We remember the silliest things sometimes. I loved her hair!
Frank Carter
I, too, have fond memories of Mrs. Sears. Always easy to understand and easy to speak with. My most memorable moment in her class was the day a squirrel was brougnt in for some biologiclal teaching moment no doubt. Anyway, Mrs. Sears was holding it explaining something and it started to go down the front of her dress. She was desperately trying to extricate it but the challenge was on. Hide in this sleeve and then the other. Of course, this was the comedy event of the day with the whole class howling. Some cheering for the squirrel, some for Mrs. Sears to prevail. Eventually, the squirrel lost out and was successfully returned to complete human control. I am not sure what we actually learned in class that day.
During our 50th, I met and greeted Mrs. Sears and reminded her of this story. Her eyes lit up and she remarked with a laugh that she remembered the incident.
Kevin Cloud Brechner
I loved Mr. Hilton's story. That is gutsy. It must have been a principal after Dr. Kloes who chopped down the apple trees. I may be wrong, but to me it seems like we were very lucky to have had so many really dedicated, great teachers at Meadowdale High School. Maybe it was because the Edmonds School District was expanding so fast and had to hire a lot of new teachers, and a lot of them were relatively young (even though they seemed old to us students). Maybe it was because of the Superintendent of Schools, Dr Harold Silvernail who set the tone for the entire district. I remember hearing a statistic at that time that Edmonds School District was the fastest growing school district in the USA, and as a result of that, District 15 had the second largest fleet of school buses operating in the US. The population of south Snohomish County was growing so fast that the School District had to build one to two new schools every year. I kept getting transferred to new schools. I went to kindergarten at Alderwood Manor, first grade at Esperance, 2-5 at Maple Park (I loved Maple Park), then they built Beverly Elementary and I had to go to that for 6th grade, then 7th grade at Lynnwood Jr High, 8 and 9 at Meadowdale Jr High, and of course, we were the first class to do all three years at MHS.
Often you hear of high schools where they had one or two outstanding teachers, but at MHS it seemed like we had dozens of really great teachers. Mr. Hilton, Mr. King, Mr. Wiggington, Mr. Honsberger, Mr. Burton, Ms. Norman, Ms. Sears. Mr. Nugent, Mr. Kovacavich, Mr. Neivaard, Mr. Pepple, Ms. McCracken, Mr. Hull, Mr. Hoon, Mr. Probst, and Mr. Anderson are just a few of them. And there were other great teachers at MHS from whom I never got the opportunity to learn. There were so many outstanding teachers that we couldn't take all their classes. I had biology from Mr. Bergum, and I really learned a lot. Now after reading the above comments I am sorry I wasn't able to take Ms. Sears' classes too. That is just MHS. There were other really extraordinary teachers in the District, especially like Ken Davis at Maple Park who was simply outstanding, and the incredible, fiery Italian music teacher at Edmonds High School, Ed Aliverti. You could make a movie about that guy. He had such a way of inspiring students to stretch to their limits and give their very best. The choirs he directed were incredible. The students just adored him. And he could blow a mean bebop jazz trumpet too.
One of my favorite things about this website is when our classmates speak out on behalf of teachers who really changed their lives. I love reading those stories. I just think we were really fortunate to have had so many great teachers in the district and at MHS. And Ms. Sears was one of them.