‘She is missed already’: Alma Kam, who was the oldest living Washingtonian, laid to rest

Thursday in Seattle, at Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home and Cemetery, Alma Kam will be laid to rest. You may not know her name, but she is a historically significant figure.

Alma Kam was the oldest living Washingtonian before her death on April 9. She was 112 years and 133 days old.

In a world where those who reach 100 years old are known as centenarians, and those who reach 110 are known as supercentenarians, Alma Kam was a SuperDupercentenarian. I made up that word, but think about it … Alma was born in 1913!

Woodrow Wilson was the president. The Ford Motor Company introduced the first moving assembly line. President Richard Nixon, Rosa Parks, and President Gerald Ford were born. Abolitionist and social activist Harriet Tubman died. There was the Great Flood of 1913, still considered the worst natural disaster in American history, and finally, the very first crossword puzzle was published in The New York World newspaper.

Granddaughter remembers grandmother as brave and inspiring

Alma’s granddaughter, Tienney Milnor, described her grandmother as lionhearted.

“She was born in the Great Depression. She decided courageously to up and move across the country to California. At the time, she and my grandpa drove through the night to get married in Reno, and they just really built a life together,” Milnor said. “They wanted the best for their kids. They moved where the opportunity was, and they took hold of that opportunity, whether it took them from California to Portland, to Spokane, and ultimately Seattle.”

Milnor added that her grandmother enjoyed the simple things in life.

“One of my grandma’s favorite things was to sit in the sun and enjoy that feeling on her body. That’s pretty amazing, to still enjoy all the simple things, no matter what else is going on in the world, whether it’s the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which she remembers, or going to war in Vietnam,” she said. “So much adversity, and she just wanted to see the best in people and really get to know them. That’s what was really inspiring about her.”

She also recounted a story her grandmother told her about her great-great-grandmother.

“She related a story to me of when she was a child and visited her grandmother in Canada. Her grandmother only spoke German. My grandmother only spoke English, and she would visit, and she remembers her grandmother making baked goods, whether it was pies or breads, and she would leave them out on the windowsill. And then Native Americans, people who were hunting and gathering, would come and trade, and they would gesture and use hand signals,” Milnor said.

“Whether it was something that they hunted or made, they would have that conversation with just hand gestures, and then they would make that trade. That was a routine part of their daily life – having those interactions with somebody who is different, grew up differently from themselves,” she continued.

A mother of four children and a business owner

Alma was a mother of four children, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Along the way, she also found time to run a business in Capitol Hill for half a century.

“She owned Carolyn’s Cakes Bakery. She bought it from Carolyn. So, everybody thought Carolyn was her name, but she didn’t want to change the name, because she wanted that history,” Milnor said.

“She and my grandpa owned it. They operated it for 52 years, and they made it their own,” Milnor continued. “She was the front person. She decorated the cakes, and she greeted the customers. Neighborhood kids worked in the bakery, stopped by the bakery, and she was just known for that on Capitol Hill, and she loved it, and she loved the interaction with all of her customers.”

Alma Kam’s loving family and friends will gather today to mourn and to celebrate the life of a woman who made history with a long life, well lived.

“I think it’s going to be a roller coaster. I mean, on one hand, you know, she was 112 years old. She was the oldest person in the state of Washington. She made the record books and did so well with all of her faculties. She was the matriarch of our family, and she is missed already,” Milnor said.

The oldest living Washingtonian’s secret to a long life

As for her key to happiness, Alma said, “Enjoy all of your friends and smile. That seems to make people happy.”

Alma’s key to a long life: “Bowling, Tai Chi, and the lake water.”

Rest in peace, Alma Kam.

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