Exactly two years ago I phoned the Ballard News-Tribune and Rebekah Schilperoort answered the telephone. I had questions about the Ballard Journal that was suddenly appearing in my mailbox and wanted to speak with editors for both papers for a post on my At Large in Ballard blog. The editor was out of the office but Rebekah took my questions very seriously and we proceeded to discuss differences in local content. I promised to send the link to my story and that's how a reporter 20 years my junior became my mentor.

This edition will mark Rebekah's last as reporter and assistant editor for the Ballard News-Tribune and West Seattle Herald, although she will continue as a freelance writer for both papers. Starting in early June she will leave full-time journalism to work as content editor for a private company providing information resources. Rebekah has a journalism degree from the University of Washington and has been with Robinson Newspapers since February 2005. Although she sounded younger than her last name on the phone, I had no idea that Rebekah was only 25 years old when we first spoke.

Rebekah became one of my readers, leaving comments on-line that ranged from heartfelt to matter of fact. A piece about loss summoned memories of her mother's death 10 years earlier. My rant about cream cheese generated a parallel tale. When she expressed the desire to see an actual photograph of an impromptu dinner party beneath the passionflower vine I began researching digital cameras. We'd never met but her local reporting was always helpful and her personal comments were already a source of guidance in attempting to "cover" Ballard.

We finally met in December 2006 at the hospital cafeteria on a Double Shot Tuesday. In person Rebekah looked slightly older than my teenage daughter but had the confident calm of a phlebotomist about to draw blood. She took fast notes in a skinny flip notebook and aimed a small recording device at me during an interview about Ballard bloggers. Off-line we discussed our mutual desire to connect my blog with the Ballard News-Tribune. By the end of the discussion I'd volunteered to write a separate column for the News-Tribune and she went back to the office and pitched the idea to the editor Jack Mayne. This column launched the following month.

Since we first met in person Rebekah has become a friend, a mentor, a journalistic advisor and a combination daughter/younger sister. I've asked her for reporting advice and she has sent me story ideas. We've bungled our way through networking events and computer code classes.

Even as Rebekah finally passed her first quarter century I was amazed by a young person who worked so hard without any fuss. Writing the lead news stories for one if not two weeklies she possessed a full working knowledge of government, design review, housing issues, transportation, City Council members and the Seattle School District and two large neighborhoods. She didn't even grow up here. But true to so many of the stories about the decrease in affordable housing, she couldn't find another rental in Ballard and had to move closer to Lake City Way. At a housing meeting a speaker said, "raise your hand if you can no longer afford to live in Ballard."

"I should do that," Rebekah said. But she didn't. She stayed journalist, no matter how close to home the issues. Hit and run on her parked car on Northwest 22nd. Laptop stolen. It wasn't the police report. It was Rebekah's life outside of the stuffy second floor office. Meanwhile there were student loans, the deductible on the hit and run and the same reality for the assistant editor of a small weekly as the local elementary school teacher; it's unaffordable to live and work in this neighborhood for a young person.

Over the course of her four years with the Ballard News-Tribune Rebekah Schilperoort has covered many issues, from the proposed monorail to the latest trolley proposal, from the Save Manning's movement to the Landmark Board's reversal on May 21. Some weeks she took on the role of editor, putting together the paper over the weekend. An incident involving a local principal happened on her editorial watch. I've seen Rebekah tired after a week of meetings but never flustered or frazzled over work. She was the one I turned to for advice on city policy.

Editor Jack Mayne has spent his entire career in the newspaper business. In the face of Rebekah's departure he's willing to go on record with his sentiments: "Rebekah keeps amazing me. I am only worried that she will not keep writing because she is a natural. In my 40 years, she is one of only two reporters who fit into her quality range. She could easily be a reporter for the Times or Post-Intelligencer if they were not cutting staff. She has elevated my two papers to high quality with her work. It will be impossible to replace her, but we will try."

Rebekah Schilperoort may have an unpronounceable last name but her reporting is straightforward and objective. For years Ballard and West Seattle have been the beneficiaries of her focused gaze. I hope that in addition to freelancing she'll return to local reporting. She's a vision for me of what my daughter could be in 10 years and a fine mentor for a 47 year-old. In the midst of more dramatic changes the absence of her consistent byline could be easy to overlook, but I'll miss Rebekah at every community meeting, offering me gum and always saving me a seat.

Peggy can be reached atlargeinballard@yahoo.com. She writes additional pieces at http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/ballard.