Marian Gravenslund

May 14, 1933 - April 27, 2020

Marian Joys (Lomen) Gravenslund was born in Nome, Alaska in 1933.Her family later moved to Seattle, where she graduated from Roosevelt High School. As a teenager she worked at Fredrick and Nelson’s where she developed her love for retail sales and proudly earned .77 cents an hour. She then attended Whitman College where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and met her future husband John Gravenslund Sr. When he saw her walk across the room at a dance, he told his date that evening, that was the woman he was going to marry. As one sorority sister said of the couple, “It was the cowboy and the lady.” In 1953 after their marriage, they returned to Kennewick to partner with her father-in-law, Wilmot Gravenslund in Washington Hardware and Furniture Co. The 50s and 60s were spent raising a family, going to rodeos and keeping the 14th tee supplied with beverages. In 1974 she began the thing she loved the most as she took over full-time management of the furniture side of the business. Marian had an uncanny knack for remembering customers by the furniture they bought. Nothing pleased her more than finding the right piece of furniture for a person’s home, and years after a sale would often vividly describe what someone had purchased when she ran into them. When her husband died in 1986 she continued to run the business side-by-side with her son John Jr. and would continue to do so until 2015 at 81 years of age. Marian always proudly stated that she had worked all her life and would have continued to do so if she could still run the stairs. Although a transplant to Kennewick and a self-described newcomer (her father-in-law arrived in 1904), Marian loved the Tri-Cities. She understood its early history and was intrigued with the growth of the area & where its future was headed. She and her husband John created an amazing home and life for their three children. Their support was unwavering for their kids and they relished seeing them all take on their own individualism. She only had one grandchild, but was fond of saying, “When you have the best you don’t need more than one.” Marian is survived by her son John (Kim), daughter Victoria (Bill), granddaughter Kelley (Tom) and sister Ann (Wayne), as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband John, son Will, brother Alfred and sisters Lucille & Jean. If you would like to make a donation in Marian’s name please consider Tri-Cities Cancer Center or the Chaplaincy Hospice House