Rene Marie (Marshall) Sasser

Rene Marie Sasser

Rene Marie (Marshall) Sasser passed on to a new adventure on 12/29/2023.  She was 73 and had been fighting cancer for over 10 years, first Merkel Cell Carcinoma and finally Ovarian cancer.

She was always a tough woman and she demonstrated this repeatedly as she went through surgeries and chemotherapy treatments.  Always greeting family and friends with a beautiful smile and a hardy laugh whenever possible.

She was the first-born child of Lyle (Spec) and Eldora Marshall.  She was born in Brookings South Dakota where her father, a World War II combat veteran, was attending college.  She was raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with siblings Jean, Jay and Diane.

While attending college she and her friend Jane drove to San Francisco for a summer adventure.  While there she met and infatuated her future husband of 52 years, Larry.  They married in Sioux Falls. They lived and worked in Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe for the first six years of marriage during which they became the proud parents of Amy and Kate.  They then settled permanently in Kirkland Washington.

After the girls started school, Rene worked in retail sales until getting involved with the mortgage business.  She worked as a loan processor and manager of closing until retiring.

One reason for working was to finance her passion for horseback riding.  She loved to ride her horse Calypso Blue at every opportunity.  Both daughters were also excellent riders.  She took a year off from working to attend culinary school to expand her cooking and baking capabilities, activities that she loved.  Since retiring she used her creative skills to make many beautiful quilts while continuing to provide family and friends with wonderful meals and loving attention.  She loved the outdoors as long as it was followed by a hot shower.  She liked to stay fit and trained continuously at the gym even through most of her chemo treatment.

She was diagnosed with Merkel Cell Carcinoma in 2012.  She was fortunate to have Dr Paul Nghiem, a leading researcher on Merkel cell, as her oncologist. After surgery she received scans and reviews for 5 years to verify that the cancer had not spread.  The last scan showed a cancerous node.  A biopsy found that it was ovarian cancer.  She had major abdominal surgery to remove many involved lymph nodes.  We almost lost her when a bleed required a 911 call and repair surgery just days after the initial surgery.  This was followed by treatment at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance at Evergreen Hospital where she received loving care from Dr. Jane Borkowski and some amazing chemotherapy nurses.  Treatment included several rounds of chemotherapy over 5 years until no more options were available.  In her final days she received loving care from many at Evergreen Hospice, especially from Anne and Sharon.

Rene loved time with family and friends.  She loved walking, horseback riding, hiking, biking, working out, quilting, cooking, baking, entertaining, dancing, smiling and laughing.  She was the center, spirit and creative force for our immediate family.  She is dearly loved by her husband Larry, daughters Amy and Katie, son in law Jerrett and grandchildren Ashleigh, Jackson, Aliya and Tyler.  Loved ones who passed away before her included her parents, her brother Jay and his son Tyler and granddaughter Angela. She is also loved by her sisters Jean and Diane and their spouses Mike and Gerald, and their children Sara and Amber and Samantha and Marshall, and Jay’s son Cody.  She is also loved by Larry,s sister Karen and husband Dick and their sons Tim and Matt and spouses Lindsey and Jen.  Rene was and is well loved and will be greatly missed by all who had the good fortune to have met her.