by Tim Robinson

Born on the northern plains in Calgary, Alberta Canada, Elsie Tibbitts likely surprised her American mother and father who were visiting relatives there. It was February 1917. It does not seem like the place one would go to birth a child, even considering it happened often enough for the locals. As luck or fate would have it, Elsie arrived. Foot thick ice on Lake Athabasca would not thaw until June. The Canadian expeditionary forces were assembling to enter WWI. In Seattle, the residents were digging out from more than 21 inches of snow. Tiny Elsie Tibbitts began life in the harsh Canadian winter before traveling backcountry trails with her parents and siblings to Washington via Spokane.

In West Seattle that same year, the Tibbitts raised their children, three girls and one boy, near Morgan Street.
Elsie is a 1935 grad of West Seattle High. She worked jobs around the district, including the Admiral and Granada Theaters as well as the Embassy Theater in Seattle. She married her high school sweetheart (Jim Freeland) in 1936 raised a son, Robert, who is also a West Seattle High grad. Jim passed away in 1999.

Jim Freeland was a Seattle cop. Together with Elsie, the couple began ballroom dancing in the 40’s and 50’s, dancing that family members insist would rival Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. So good were they that many awards followed. They and their dancing group won cash. They traveled to Las Vegas or Reno. They won again and again. They danced locally. The old Corner Inn on Fauntleroy and California Avenue S.W. was a favorite spot on Saturday night. Golf, bowling and dancing consumed much of their time in West Seattle. They worked too.

In the 40's Elsie opened the Freeland Paint Store in White Center. She found an empty building while nosing around the district. Elsie’s dad Lawrence was a house painter so Elsie learned the foundations of the business. Elsie built the enterprise on foot traffic. She lived with Jim and son Robert in the apartment behind the store. Jim walked his beat, Elsie sold paint and raised Robert. She made his school lunch and after school sent him next door to the restaurant while she sold paint. She made Jim dinner and sold paint. After several years Elsie and her apron had had enough. Robert was graduated and raising his own family. Jim was retiring. In the early 60's, when a man walked in and said he wanted to buy the business, Elsie was relieved. She'd had so many years on her feet in the store. She knew it was time.

Elsie did not rest. She only quit the paint biz. Still on her feet, she took jobs at Safeway and Lucky Stores. She continued dancing, golfing and bowling, usually at Roxbury Lanes. She and Jim enjoyed many years of league bowling.

Elsie lived above Lincoln Park in a beautiful home she and Jim had built in 1950. When Jim died, Elsie sold the home and befriended long-time West Seattle resident Morey Skaret. They became frequent visitors with daily lunches at Roxbury Lanes. Through a twist of fate, Morey was also a retired Seattle policeman and born in Canada.

When Morey died in 2014, Elsie lost her friend. She was lonely. Her daughter Debbie Freeland Buhl noticed. So did her daughter-in-law, Maxine Bruntzel. After Elsie’s birthday fete earlier this month, Maxine invited Elsie to live in her home in Poulsbo. Now Debbie takes her mom to doctor appointments, shopping and lunch. Son David Freeland visits each Sunday and Elsie takes the bus to get her hair done each Wednesday. Elsie is not lonely.

For a little girl born in Canada in 1917, she seems so much younger than her years. Maybe there is something in the water of Lake Athabasca or maybe it was all the ballroom dancing through those years. Whatever it is, it works. Happy birthday Elsie. Still light on your feet at 99.