Freda (Winifred) Codd died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, May 9, 2021, at the age of 87. Leaving us on Mother’s Day was appropriate as she valued her role as a mother and grandmother and will not be forgotten.

Freda was born in Asuncion, Paraguay, where her father was stationed to establish branches of the Bank of England and to serve the mining and agricultural sectors in the 30s and 40s. With her two sisters, Liz and Joan, and parents, Beatrice and Harold, the British family moved from Paraguay to Argentina to Peru. Upon returning to England, Freda studied nursing and earned her certificate in London at age 17, pursuing her profession in London and later in America.

She met David Richards in 1955 on a beach in Nice, where he purportedly lost his cigarette lighter and asked for a light. They were married soon after. Living initially in London and Paris, where their two kids were born, their relationship was as fiery as the first smoke they shared. They immigrated to the U.S. by way of NYC and settled in Indianapolis to raise their two children.

Following her divorce from David in 1970, she moved to Virginia and then Maryland, where she married William Codd. This second marriage in 1972 created great joy for her until his death in 1993. She then moved from Maryland to Washington State to be closer to her family. There she met her final partner, Mickey Sexton, with whom she lived until his death in 2017.

Freda will be remembered as a caring, loyal, compassionate, and honest friend. She could be blunt about her opinions, but also unconditionally supportive of those she loved. Many viewed her as a soul mate. She could be very perceptive about the world and shared those perceptions with others. She was a wonderful cook and loved to entertain, bringing people together for many large gatherings; she created welcoming, comfortable places for people to enjoy each other and her food, as long as it did not contain white sugar. She was full of life and determination. She was fiercely independent and brave, designing and getting built her home in Sequim. She loved gardening and creating outdoor spaces for people to relax in.

Her family will remember many vacations together, especially in a shared Wisconsin home where we would gather each summer over multiple years. Freda is survived by her two children: daughter, Maryse Richards (Brandon Taylor) and their two children, Heather and Niara, and son, Michael Richards (Rita Brogan) and their two children, Zachary Elway (Jasmine Mahmoud) and Hunter Richards. Freda is preceded in death by her sisters Joan and Liz. Donations can be made in her memory to Vashon Community Care or Nature Conservancy, Washington Nature.