Obituary: Wanda Beatrice ‘Bea’ Hull

On Friday, Aug. 15, 2026, after enjoying a fine breakfast and while chatting with her housemates, 101-year-old Wanda Beatrice “Bea” Hull suddenly slumped in her chair and quietly died.  

Wanda Beatrice “Bea” Hull

Born in Twin Falls, Idaho, in 1925, to Elmer and Verna (Robinson) Jordan, Bea was the oldest of three children. She was outgoing and energetic and was nicknamed "Our Gang" by her three age-peer boy cousins because she alone had as much energy as that 11-member group.

Bea received her teaching credential at what was then the Albion State Normal School. Her first teaching assignment was a one-room schoolhouse in rural Idaho where she had to chop wood, haul water and ensure her hemlines reached the floor to comply with local modesty standards.   

When a college friend told her about teaching positions in the modern growing school district in Vancouver, Washington, she moved there in 1947. It was at a social event hosted by her landlady’s church that Bea’s 5’11” dark-haired, blue-eyed beauty caught the eye of one Lawton Hull. He was a former Navy sonar operator studying music education at Lewis and Clark College while performing cello professionally with what was then the Portland Symphony. To Bea’s delight, their courtship included lots of dressing up for symphony and opera performances, and she purchased a floor-length labrador sealskin coat and a mink stole to accentuate her dresses. Particular about impressions, Bea never went out without her lipstick and was able to apply it without a mirror – a skill that baffled her caregivers when she was 101. 

It was Bea who nicknamed Lawton “Chic” because he wore a tuxedo to work, a nickname that others quickly adopted. It was also Bea who gave Chic his first rod and reel, after which he became an avid fisherman and she a “fishing widow.” 

They married in 1949, building a two-story house on East 17th Street in Vancouver. After enduring many heartbreaking miscarriages, they happily expanded their family in 1957 by adopting daughter Ann. When Ann asked for a little sister for her fifth birthday, the miraculous occurred and in 1962 Bea gave birth to Patricia. That same year, they bought three acres on the Washougal River at Chic’s favorite fishing hole. They converted a barn on the property into a modest house, a structure that was repeatedly added onto over the next six decades.     

In 1967, the family moved to Juneau, Alaska, where both Bea and Chic taught and became involved in music, theatre, and church. Chic directed the Sweet Adelines, an all-female barbershop group in which Bea sang Bass. She sang alto in the Resurrection Lutheran Church Chancel Choir from 1968-1981 which Chic also conducted. The couple rented their Washougal River house to teachers who travelled during the summer months, allowing Bea and Chic to spend summers with their children at the river. They did this for 15 years before permanently returning to the river in 1981. At that time, they added a large living room with a balcony to the house so they could host choir practices, string quartets, cello lessons and parties.  

 Bea loved coordinating celebrations and had decorations to match every holiday. She also enjoyed costume and theme parties and got Chic into the act with coordinated outfits.

Bea had an infectious smile and a ready laugh. She always had a new joke at the ready for bank tellers, doctor’s office staff, and store clerks. When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in her 70s, she created what she called her “chemo outfit: a denim jacket, hat and shoes that she blinged out with sequins and sparkle glue to spell out her name. She said it lifted her spirits to wear that special outfit. Years later, her infusion nurses recognized her on the street and called her by name and shared that she had brightened everyone’s day whenever she came in for treatment.

Bea took great joy in her grandchildren Matthew and Cali Hoye and especially loved hosting them and their friends at the River. She was always up for a fun time pitching horseshoes, boiling crawdads, making blackberry betty and shooting BB guns with them. 

Bea loved to play cards, especially partner pinochle which she and Chic taught to their then 7- and 12-year-old daughters one January to stave off cabin fever for the whole family when a winter storm closed Juneau’s roads and knocked out the power for days. Bea was a savvy player nicknamed “Vegas” by her son-in-law Mark. She continued playing pinochle up until her passing. 

After Chic’s death in 2018, Bea took an apartment at The Landing where her smiling face soon graced the cover of their marketing materials. The past five years when her mobility became limited, she lived at Nataly’s Adult Family Home in Vancouver making forays to her river house with her daughters and sons-in-law in a rented wheelchair accessible van.    

Bea was a longtime member of Camas Zion Lutheran Church and had been a loyal volunteer of the Vancouver Symphony, organizing many receptions and special events.

Bea is survived by her daughters Ann Hoye (Richard) of San Clemente, California, and their children Matthew and Cali; daughter Patricia Lattime (Mark) of Juneau and his children Jack of Fairbanks, and Alley, David, and great-granddaughter Piper of Rochester, New York; and Cousin Kathryn Jordan of Newcastle, California.     

The family would like to thank the staff of Nataly’s especially, Lucy, Alma and Nataly for their loving care of Bea, also Rachelle of Portland’s United Access for her help coordinating transportation logistics in Bea’s final years. Donations may be made in Bea’s honor to the Vancouver Symphony.   

In keeping with Bea’s love of parties, a celebration of life will be held at the river house on what would have been her 102nd birthday, May 26, 2027.