Karla Margaret Crosier Billings Andersdatter, 73, passed away on May 23, 2011, at her home in Muir Beach, Marin County in California, after losing a fight with breast cancer. She was a Mother, Grandmother, Teacher, Storyteller, Artist, Writer and Author of many books. She was born in San Francisco, California on April 9, 1938 and moved to Washington State as a baby. She spent her youth on Vashon Island attending Burton Elementary School. She graduated in 1959 from U.C.L.A. with a B.A. then a Master’s in K-6 Elementary. Vashon was always her home and she loved Burton Beach. She and her children spent summers on the Island with her mother, Daphne Crosier Bates (deceased), a long-time Vashon resident and elementary school teacher. Her father was Howard Riley Crosier (deceased) who lived in Burton. Karla is survived by her 2 children and grandchildren: Scott Billings and his wife Margaret Billings, their children, Simon and Emily, & Jennifer Williams and her husband Ted Williams, their children, Michael and Marissa. She is also survived by her older sister, Patricia Crosier Stevens Beymer Arnold Ojeda Krenik Krenik and Pat’s 10 children, some of whom are Darlene Hill Crouch, Lorelei Stevens Schärig, Gloria Beymer Spakowsky Check, Teresa Beymer King, and Sylvia Beymer Sage. She is survived by 24 great nieces and nephews, including Traci Palagi, Jane Spakowsky DesRosier, Daphne Spakowsky Edwards, Rory Lawrence Stevens and Maria Mae Stevens.

A woman ahead of her time, she will be missed very much, and she will be forever in our hearts. A memorial service will be held at Daphne Crosier Bates’ gravesite at the Vashon Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. on July 31, 2011.

Paid Obituary.