Ricarda Cross Spee died peacefully of brain cancer at her home in Edmonds, Washington on October 31st.  She was 84 years old.  Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Constance and Samuel Cross on November 16, 1927, she was the youngest of three sisters including Caroline (Nanine) Chase and Ann Limerick who preceded her in death.  Together, they called themselves “The Three Graces” after a painting by Botticelli that hung in their parent’s parlor. 

Ricarda grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and attended Shady Hill School, Peabody Elementary, Buckingham School, and Brimmer-May School in Boston.  After graduating from high school in Pittsburgh, PA; she attended University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where she received her B.A. in English.

In 1951, Ricarda married Karl Jacob Spee of Grand Rapids, Michigan and together moved to Seattle.  They had six children and built their home in Renton where she lived until 1996 when she moved to Shoreline, WA.  In 2001, she moved to Bell Street in Edmonds where she resided until her death.

After starting her family, she helped her husband Karl found Alpine Helicopters in 1963 and learned accounting by handling all of the records for the business.  After her divorce in 1977, she worked briefly for Elling Halvorson Construction before joining Advertising Distributor Services, a start up in downtown Seattle, and then Technic Water Services in Ballard.  The longest and...