Lisa Ann (Marioni) Fyrqvist, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend passed into eternal life on Friday, February 27th, at her home in Friday Harbor. She was surrounded in her final weeks by the songs, prayers, and hugs of her beloved husband Tony, her five children, her twelve grandchildren, her sister Laura, and other devoted family members and neighbors who came through her home. Even her good dog Oakley was seldom absent from her perch by Lisa's bed. This characteristic hospitality – in her words, "there is always room for family" – was a singular gift that Lisa never failed to give.

Lisa was born in Palo Alto, California, on May 11, 1960 to John Donald Marioni and Gail (Dickson) Marioni. She was the eldest of four beautiful children, and her birth prompted the purchase of their first home in Los Altos, California. Just fifteen months later, her sister Laura arrived, and the two girls could not have been more different. Despite a rocky childhood, a strong sisterly bond grew between these two as adults. It was Laura (along with daughter Kate, a nurse) who accompanied Lisa through years of cancer treatments and her final weeks, and it was Laura who was with Lisa when she breathed her last.

Growing up as the oldest (and everyone agrees, the sweetest) of the Marioni crew was no easy task, and Lisa had the difficult job of keeping her spirited siblings on the straight and narrow. They would say in the end she succeeded in doing this despite the wild ride through Los Gatos public schools and many a misadventure. Her parents were strict, but loving champions of their children (and later their grandchildren), encouraging artistic, academic, athletic, and social interests, not to mention a love of travel and family reunions. Their gatherings became somewhat legendary, continuing to this day with rich feasting, music making and story telling.   Lisa grew into a lover of art, music, Spanish (she and her high school Spanish club spent a summer in Costa Rica), and most especially her Catholic faith, which she followed devotedly her whole life. She graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1978, having been the artistic editor of her yearbook, as well as an avid guitar player and choir member in her church.

Lisa met Tony, an exchange student from Finland, at Chico State in California their freshmen year in a tennis class. She stood him up on their first date at the tennis courts, tucking a sticky note into the fence explaining that she couldn't make it. He found it, but wasn't deterred. Many games of tennis and hours spent at the Newman Center later, they fell in love and were married after graduation in her home parish of St. Mary's in Los Gatos on July 31, 1982. Folks gathered in her parents' lovely yard for the reception, and by some miracle, no one fell into the family pool.

Tony and Lisa built a life together with much hard work, beginning with years in Arizona for Tony's graduate studies, and then having their first three children in quick succession in Ballard, Washington. Here Lisa worked in a sign shop, the job she would look back on as her favorite. On a family vacation up to the San Juan Islands, they became smitten with Friday Harbor, and Tony decided to leave behind international banking to become a local banker at Islanders Bank. They moved from greater Seattle in 1991 and became islanders.

Raising five strong, healthy, and joyful children was Lisa's greatest challenge and greatest accomplishment, and she was so proud of the good and capable people they became. She was a gentle person, known for her sweet temperament, but she could be a fierce parent, having exceptionally high standards for her children's behavior, comportment in school, and treatment of others, particularly the underdog. Once she even chided her son Mike, at the time a high school lineman on the football team, for "being too rough to that boy" after he tackled his opponent during a game. They gave her a run for her money as feisty teenagers, particularly her son Joe, (quite possibly her favorite) who in a stroke of evil genius penned an email to her "from" her dad, instructing her to give Joe more time at the skate park with his friends. This she promptly did (she was a very obedient and loving daughter). Wrath followed when the forgery was uncovered, but Joe tasted freedom and relished it. His exploits and Lisa's attempts to curb them became the stuff of family legend.

Though she could be unbending and sometimes infuriating in her parenting decisions, she was never afraid to make amends should she be shown her own errors by a trusted authority. Lisa loved the Sacraments, particularly Confession and the Eucharist, and she encouraged her children to seek the Church's help throughout their lives. She and Tony, long time and beloved parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Church, found friendship, support, and a true family in the Catholic community of Friday Harbor.

Lisa pushed her children to work hard and live generously, something she herself modeled. In fact she lived so generously that sometimes there were non-family members and their dogs living in the small Fyrqvist home, which was already full to bursting. This never seemed to bother Lisa, who had a seemingly supernatural tolerance for noise and mess. No one in need ever escaped her attention if she could help it.

Not only underdogs attracted Lisa's attention, she was also a great lover of dogs, beginning with a puppy given to her in high school that she named Boomer. Boomer was so well trained that he could fetch the daily paper from the bottom of the long steps leading up to their home. Later, she and Tony shared their love for canine companions, and after her darling Boomer, came Shreddy, Todd, Laku, and finally Oakley, whom Lisa described as "the best dog I've ever had."

Lisa is survived by her husband Tony, her children: John (Claire), Mike (Heather), Kate (Brent), Joe, and Laura (Mateen). She is survived by her twelve grandchildren: Joseph, Kai, Anthony, Maggie, Danny, Lily, Teresa, Lydia, Jackson, Camille, Anna, and Maria.

She is likewise survived by her beloved father, Don, her sister Laura, her brothers: John (Yuno), and Mark (Wendy) as well as several aunts and uncles and many nieces and nephews whom she held dear. She is preceded in death by her mother Gail.

Lisa loved Jesus above all earthly things and drew her comfort, her hope, and her peace, from the salvation she had received from Him. Her radiant life, attested to by so many who knew her and most especially her large family, bears witness to this love, which was at the very center of Lisa's large and overflowing heart. She will be dearly missed.

A Funeral Mass is planned for Lisa on March 7th at 1:00 PM at St. Francis Church with a burial at St. Francis Cemetery and a reception to follow at Calvary Church. In honor of Lisa, please consider donating to St. Francis Xavier Church or Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services