Cleva Nelvina Twibell, a centenarian and beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother, passed quietly Thursday morning, January 23, 2014 at the age of 101. Cleva was born the second child of Grover Cleveland and Minnie Nelvina (Shearer) Allison in Rushville, MO, on August 24, 1912.
The family moved to Missouri River bottom land near Atchison, KS. They would later live in Elkhart, IN before returning to Atchison where she graduated from Atchison High School in 1930. She is the last remaining member of the class.
She went to work in the offices of the Blish-Mize Co., a wholesale merchandising company in Atchison until she followed her husband-to-be, Lynn Twibell of Leavenworth, KS, to Tacoma, WA where they married October 10, 1936. She worked at Brown and Haley Candy Co., rolling Almond Roca and Mountain Bar candies until the birth of their two sons.
Cleva was active in the Pre-school and Parent Teacher Associations of the Tacoma School District. In 1951 she joined the staff at Puget Sound National Bank, Lincoln Branch, as secretary to the manager and the safety deposit box teller. She would in later years before retirement in 1978 serve as executive secretary to the head of the marketing department in the main offices of the bank.
She and Lynn liked to travel and returned to Kansas several times including class reunions for Atchison High School. They also drove full circle around the US, had been to Hawaii several times and went to the Holy Lands, Greek Isles and Rome in 1978 with a group from the First Christian Church, Tacoma, where they had been members for many years. Their trips also included many trips in their truck and trailer, around the greater Northwest and many weekends on the coastal beaches digging clams.
Cleva was also a member of the American Institute of Banking, servings as the Northwest Area representative in 1961-62. She was also the founder and twice president of the Beacon Business and Professional Women’s Club, Tacoma.
From the time she was in high school she had been in music. She sang in the high school choir and played clarinet in the band; she sang in the choir at the First Christian Church, Atchison; in the church choirs of Lincoln Park Christian Church and later at the First Christian Church, both of Tacoma; and as a young mother was very active in the Tacoma Mother Singers group. At other times she could be heard at home playing, by ear mind you, her piano and in later years an organ, as she would sing old familiar songs. She liked to play pinochle with her husband, her family always being sure to split them up otherwise no one else stood a chance.
Cleva and Lynn moved to Olympia in 1984, living at Colonial Estates, where, of course, she was active in organizing the park choir. Lynn passed away, January 4, 1992 in Olympia. Cleva continued to live there until health began to close in on her and she came to Aberdeen to live near family.
She is survived by two sons and their wives: Dennis and Linda, Mount Lake Terrace, WA and Douglas and Barbara, Aberdeen; a sister: Ethel Bernice “Neetie” Gorrell, Mesa, AZ; and five grandchildren: Carrie Snyder, Chattaroy, WA, Megan Twibell, Chicago, IL, Troy and wife LaVelle Twibell, Kent, WA, Keith and wife Heather Twibell, Cosmopolis, WA and Paul Twibell, Seattle; and also 9 great grandchildren.
A time of visitation and memories will be held Thursday, January 30th from Noon to 6 PM at the chapel at Fern Hill Funeral Home, Aberdeen. A graveside service will be held at 11 AM Friday, January 31st at Mills and Mills Memorial Park, 5725 Littlerock Rd. SW, Tumwater, WA 98512. Reverend Kent Gravley, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Hoquiam, will officiate.
Please stop by www.fernhillfuneral.com to light a candle or leave a message or a memory for the family.
Arrangements are entrusted to Fern Hill Funeral Home, Aberdeen.

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