Muriel L. Lamb of Pullman, passed away July 21, 2018 at Bishop Place Retirement Community at the age of 104 years, 8 months, 8 days, 8 hours and 18 minutes. She was born Nov. 12, 1913 in Ripon, CA. to Elmer and Susa (Healy) Keldgord, when Woodrow Wilson was president and before women could vote. When Muriel was five, at the end of WWI and during the great Spanish flu outbreak that killed more people than the war, she remembers having to wear a mask when she would go outside. That year, the family moved to Missouri Valley, Iowa, where Muriel grew up the oldest of four children.

She married Wilmur F. Lamb from Philip, S.D. on Dec. 22, 1935. On their honeymoon through the Black Hills of South Dakota, they saw Mount Rushmore under construction, with scaffolds on the face of the monument. They soon made Tecumseh, Nebraska their home, but after the WWII bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, "Wilmuriel" (a name Wilmur coined for them) moved to Bremerton, WA. There, they both worked at the U.S. Navy shipyard, Muriel working as a bookkeeper, a field she excelled at and loved. While in Bremerton, they had two children in two years, Gordon and Nancy.

In snowy December 1950, the family moved to Pullman, where Wilmur had been hired by the WSU printing department. In Pullman, they had one more child, Linda. While raising their growing family, Muriel sometimes worked for local businesses as a bookkeeper. In 1963, she went to work as the bookkeeper at Pullman High School, where she was a positive, smiling presence in the front office. Wilmur died in 1970 and Muriel became a single mom. She retired from PHS in 1976 and soon began to travel with a group of other women, many of them retired teachers or widows. Muriel was a charter member of the Patchin' People, where she quilted passionately for decades. As an expert seamstress who could make a beautiful tailored suit out of one of her father's old overcoats, Muriel sewed and upholstered for her family and taught all three of her children how to sew. She made quilts for all her relatives and friends and never forgot a birthday. Since 1952, Muriel has been a member of the Community Congregational United Church of Christ, where she spent many hours volunteering at the church's popular Thrift Shop near WSU. She gladly made quilts and perfectly sewed items to donate to fundraising efforts, including the Pullman Senior Center, and she was also involved in Eastern Star and volunteered at Pullman Regional Hospital.

Muriel was always learning and open to new things and she was a lifelong reader of fiction and nonfiction, especially history and current events. Muriel loved her family and found much joy in her grandchildren and great grandchildren.  As she went into her 80s and 90s and then passed 100, people would often ask about her secret for longevity and she would always say it was her daily walks, which she adhered to almost religiously, starting them after Wilmur died so young at 63. Because of her example, her family is also mindful about staying active. Even at 104, when she was feeling unwell, she would say she needed to "take my walk" in the halls to feel better.

Muriel is survived by her son Gordon (Nancy) Lamb of Pullman; daughter Nancy (James) Judge of Surprise, AZ., daughter Linda (Jeff) Hiller of Carson City, NV. and her grandchildren Aaron (Helen) Lamb, Sara (Cary) Gray, Abbey (Brady) Shelton, Blake Hiller and Casey (Jason) Brounstein; great-grandchildren Nolan and Asher Shelton, Kylie and Jaxon Hiller, Alana Gray and Piper Brounstein. In addition to her husband, Muriel was preceded in death by her parents, her three siblings and her grandson Cory Lamb.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 27, 2018 at the Independent Living Social Hall at Bishop Place in Pullman. Muriel will be laid to rest at the Pullman Cemetery with a family gathering at a later date. The family would like to acknowledge the wonderful caring staff at Bishop Place Retirement Community who took care of Muriel while she was living there. She became very close to many of the staff and caregivers over the years.  As a family we cannot thank you enough. In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice, take a walk and perform an act of kindness in Muriel's honor. Kimball Funeral Home of Pullman, WA. has been entrusted with arrangements.