Reandeau Stipe selected Sequim’s Citizen of Year

Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, past winners

1968 — Peter Black

1969 — Carl Klint

1970 — Virginia Keeting

1971 — Virginia Peterson

1972 — Tom Groat

1973 — None

1974 — Katie & Bill Merrill

1975 — Jerry Angiuli

1976 — Chuck Southern, Howard Wood, Lorna McInnes

1977 — Nellie Tetrude

1978 — Marcia Welch

1979 — Ruby Trotter

1980 — Iris Marshall

1981 — Howard Herrett

1982 — Guy Shephard

1983 — Don & Vivian Swanson

1984 — Bill & Shirley Keeler

1985 — Ed & Marcia Beggs

1986 — Ruby Mantle

1987 — Jeff Shold

1988 — Annette Kuss

1989 — Jim Haynes

1990 — Bill & Judy Rowland

1991 — Nina Fatherson

1992 — Bud Knapp

1993 — Paul Higgins

1994 — Rand Thomas

1995 — Rochelle McHugh

1996 — Esther Nelson

1997 — Annette Hanson

1998 — Jim & Cathy Carl

1999 — Bill Fatherson

2000 — Robert Clark

2001 — Don Knapp

2002 — Gil Oldenkamp

2003 — John Beitzel

2004 — Emily Westcott

2005 — Lee Lawrence

2006 — Bob & Elaine Caldwell

2007 — Stephen Rosales

2008 — Walt & Sherry Schubert

2009 — Tom Schaafsma

2010 — Jim Pickett

2011 — Dick Hughes

2012 — Kevin Kennedy

2013 — Gary Smith

2014 — Cliff Vining

2015 — Louie Rychlik

2016 — Dave Bekkevar

2017 — Judy Reandeau Stipe

Humanitarian Award recipients

2007 — Bill & Esther Littlejohn

2008 — Brown & Sarah Maloney

2014 — R. Leo Shipley

2016 — Dave & Patsy Mattingley

As the wife of a serviceman, Judy Reandeau Stipe spent much of her early adulthood away from her hometown — and yet, for years at a time in the 1960s and 1970s, she would bring her family back to Sequim. When she and husband Bob Stipe moved back to the area in 1999, she simply felt compelled to give back.

“Coming back to Sequim, I owe them this service,” she said Tuesday. “I’m astounded by the love in this small town.”

For her years of volunteer work with Sequim Museum and Arts and other community projects, Reandeau Stipe was selected the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 Citizen of the Year on Feb. 27.

Reandeau Stipe was one of five finalists for Sequim’s top civic award, a field that included Gretha Davis, Dave Shreffler, Jean Wyatt and, posthumously, Robert Streett.

“I was stunned,” Reandeau Stipe said of receiving the honor Tuesday, “because the competition was of such high caliber.”

See a slideshow of photos from the event here.

“It was nice to be recognized for the service you owe the community,” she told an appreciative crowd at Sunland Golf & Country Club Tuesday.

Reandeau Stipe was a finalist for the 2014 Citizen of the Year award and was nominated because of her dedication, enthusiasm and preservation of local history as well as support of the community in her role as volunteer Executive Director of the Sequim Museum & Arts.

Steve Vogel, former Fire District 3 chief and longtime Sequim resident, nominated Reandeau Stipe.

“I don’t know anyone who puts in more time than she does,” Vogel said.

An author and former volunteer with the American Red Cross, Reandeau Stipe also was nominated for her involvement in the creation of a veteran’s monument on Sequim Avenue and recent renovations to the Old Dungeness Schoolhouse. She was instrumental in the recent creation of Sequim Prairie Nights Car Show, a day-long car show and shine in August that benefited nonprofits such as Sequim Museum & Arts and the Sequim Food Bank.

“That’s a lot for one person,” Vogel said. “I don’t know how she does it.”

Bill Littlejohn, chair of the Citizen of the Year nomination committee, emceed the event,noting, “There are so many people in this town who go out of their way to help. We had five great nominees.”

Other finalists were lauded by their nominators: Lorri Gilchrist for Davis; Lee Bowen for Shreffler; Deon Kapetan for Wyatt, and Shenna Younger for Streett.

For more about the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce, call 360-683-6197 or see sequimchamber.com.

Finalists for the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 Citizen of the Year join award-winner Judy Reandeau Stipe, far right, following the chamber’s award ceremony on Feb. 27. They include, from left Robert Streett (represented by his wife Josslyn), Dave Shreffler, Gretha Davis and Jean Wyatt. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell