Overlake Terrace resident celebrates 104th birthday

Redmond may be turning 100 this year, but Alice Stiyer, a resident of Overlake Terrace Assisted Living and Independent Living, has the city beat by a few years as she turned 104 on Monday.

Despite her many years, Stiyer has spent less than one living in Redmond. She moved to Overlake Terrace in June 2011 and what she’s seen of the city so far during regular outings with her grandson has impressed her.

“It’s quite a city,” the centenarian said.

Upon learning that Redmond is just now celebrating its Centennial, she laughed at the city’s relative youth.

“It makes me pretty old,” she said with a smile.

Stiyer was born on April 2, 1908, in eastern Washington and lived there for two years. She and her family then moved to Canada. They moved around a bit, living in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Stiyer, one six children, and her family moved to Bellingham when she was 14. She stayed there until she got married at the age of 20.

She and her husband moved to Seattle, where they worked in the grocery store industry. They had one daughter.

The couple moved to Wenatchee after they bought a grocery store and meat-packing plant there. Next came a grocery store in Quincy before they returned to Seattle and eventually retired in Bellingham.

Stiyer’s grandson and Redmond resident Ron Radtke, 64, has fond memories of going with his grandparents whenever they bought a new business.

“I spent a lot of time with them,” he said. “They were my foundation.”

One of Stiyer’s two grandsons, Radtke said he acquired his work ethic from his grandparents, who were both hard workers. He said in addition to hard work, Stiyer valued her family and faith. She has always been patient, understanding and very strong willed, he said. But above all, Radtke said she was a very good cook.

When asked about his favorite memories of his grandmother he said, “I would say her meals quite frankly.”

Outside of work, family and her faith, Stiyer enjoyed bowling. She bowled when she lived in Seattle and in Bellingham when she retired. She joined a bowling league and befriended a group of women who she still remains in contact with, including Maryanne Harriman.

Harriman and Stiyer actually met through the Stiyer’s sister, who was neighbors with Harriman’s family. Harriman was the same age as Stiyer’s sister’s children and said the two older women were both mother figures in her life.

“She was like family to me,” Harriman said about Stiyer. “She’s a wonderful woman. She’s always been a wonderful woman.”

Harriman and two other former bowlers visited Stiyer on Monday to help her celebrate her birthday, which Stiyer really appreciated.

“It’s wonderful,” she said about her visitors.

During the birthday celebrations on Monday, David Standring, personal preferences coordinator at Overlake Terrace, surprised Stiyer with a gift basket from the Seattle Mariners, which included a baseball signed by six of the players, an autographed and framed poster of the Mariner Moose, a card and other Mariners memorabilia.