• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Business Directory
  • Real Estate
  • Vacation Rentals
  • Restaurant Listings
  • Events Calendar
  • Tours & Activities
The Mazatlan Messenger
  • Arts & Culture
  • Life
  • Homes
  • Health
  • Movie Reviews
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Community
  • News
    • Local News
    • National News
  • Opinion
Click for Mazatlan, Mexico Forecast
Tides
Written on 3 Sep 10 at 2:02 pm by Maureen Dietrich Email / Email / Print Print

The Passing of a Grand Lady: Ethel Stockton

Filed under Community 3 comments

Ethel Stockton

The Mazatlán English community lost one of its Grand Ladies when our indomitable, spirited 94-year-old Ethel Stockton passed away in Seattle, Washington on Wednesday.

A tiny lady with monumental energy and curiosity, Ethel was born in Toppenish, Washington and had been visiting Mexico for thirty years before settling in Mazatlán permanently in 2002. Before that, her intrepid spirit had taken her across country in an old VW bus to Panama, but in Costa Rica they told her the road to Panama was paved with cobblestones, and realizing the old van just wouldn´t survive, she turned around. A few years later she was crisscrossing the States, visiting libraries searching out her family tree. She continued to drive in Mazatlán until two years ago when she finally admitted her reactions might be a little slower than they should be.

Having worked for 50 years as an interior designer and divorcing after 45 years of marriage, Ethel wrote her first self-help book on finance for older women entitled “Stretch Your Dollars” in 1967, followed by a “Cookbook for Losers” in 1999.

The cookbook, she said in a 2004 interview, was a reaction to no-fat diets. “I got mad. I was 84 years old and had been eating fat all my life. It’s the carbs that do you in,” she said. “So I wrote the book on what I call the BRPPS principle – no bread, rice, pasta, potatoes or sugar. It really works.”

Her arrival in Mazatlán at age 86 to live alone, away from family and friends, was a rebirth. Now she had only herself to rely on and she embraced the challenge with eager anticipation.

Ethel

Ethel (in blue dress) celebrating her 91st birthday with friends and family.

During the next eight years, Ethel became a prodigious writer producing five novels centered around her septuagenarian protagonist Annaliz Fallon, a feisty, worldly woman who lived life to the fullest and shared her common sense advice with the many varied characters who populated her stories.

About her novels, Ethel said “I felt the books needed to be written. I have many older friends who sit in a chair waiting to die, who won’t take risks. You have to decide whether you will let life come to you, or you will reach out. I’m the type who reaches out.”

And reach out she did. She opened a Bed & Breakfast near the cruise ship docks, took Spanish lessons, became a life coach with speaking engagements throughout the States, joined the ladies’ luncheon group where you’d find her on Tuesdays sipping a martini and lighting up another of her favourite Camel lights.

She kept in touch with friends and family through a weekly email report in which she invariably enthused about the delights of Mazatlán, Scrabble games and lunches with friends, and the kindness of her neighbours.

Ethel returned to Seattle when her usual robust health began to falter. A survivor of breast cancer, she realized her health needed attention.

She passed away with family and friends close by, and we will miss her. Her spirit, though, will never leave us.

She left us with a simple clue to living what she called “the Good Life” when, in the 2004 interview, she said: “Attitude is everything for the elderly. I get up every morning and think something wonderful is going to happen to me today, and it usually does.”

Share
← Next post Previous post →
3 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Nancy says:
    4 Sep 10 at 11:16 am

    Such a lovely tribute to an incredible woman.

    Reply
  2. Richard Stockton says:
    7 Sep 10 at 4:57 pm

    Thank you so much for this fine article about my mother. Her family here in the Pacific Northwest were thrilled to see how much she meant to all her friends in Mazatlan.

    We have created a memorial site in her honor at http://ethelstockton.com/ and invite one and all to share the many personal stories and tributes from her friends, as well as images from her life that can now be found there. We also invite contributions to the site, just send your pictures and remembrances to “memorial@ethelstockton.com”.

    Thanks again.
    – Richard

    Reply
  3. Dee says:
    21 Sep 10 at 9:02 pm

    What a nice article about Ethel! Thanks, Maureen. I will miss her so much, but will try to keep her positive outlook in my life as I get old and cranky!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.




We appreciate your respectful participation and exchange of views. All comments are held in moderation for a short period and we reserve the right to delete offensive comments, personal attacks and spam. The opinions expressed herein are those of the users and do not reflect the editorial policy of The Mazátlan Messenger.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

  • Submit to our new photo competition! Scroll down to the bottom of this page for more info.
  • Hospice Dinner & Dance – 25 Feb
  • Deadline to submit to the new Mazatlan Foreign Resident Contact Directory – 01 Mar
  • Ojala Annual Fundraiser – 10 Mar

SALES OPPORTUNITY

Do you like meeting people? The Mazatlán Messenger is looking for a part-time advertising sales representative. Fun job with good commission.

Contact jacks@mazmessenger.com.

Looking for a local business? Check out our Business Directory!

THE DAY IN HISTORY

February 22, 1922: On this date, in the early morning hours, Francisco I. Madero and José María Pino Suárez were murdered on the orders of Victoriano Huerta.

by Eduardo Olivares A

NATIONAL NEWS LINKS

  • Mazatlan puts up a fight for its image – 21 Feb
  • Mexican beating victim Sheila Nabb released from hospital, likely to need more surgery – 21 Feb
  • Mexico City modern metro meets ancient Aztec life – 11 Feb
  • Mexico Arrests 9 Linked to Major Drug Cartel – 11 Feb
  • Politician's Free Tacos Leave over 650 Sick in Mexico – 11 Feb
Looking for good eats? Check out our Restaurant Listings!

INTERNATIONAL NEWS LINKS

  • White House: IAEA visit a 'failure' for Iran - BBC News - 22 Feb 12
  • Chavez surgery throws Venezuela into uncertainty - The Associated Press - 22 Feb 12
  • Australian Leader Gillard Set for Showdown as Rudd Canvasses - BusinessWeek - 22 Feb 12
  • Italian Investigators Expand Cruise-Ship Sinking Probe - Wall Street Journal - 22 Feb 12
  • Somalia: chronicle of failure - The Guardian - 22 Feb 12
Find local Real Estate listings in our new Listings section!

RECENT COMMENTS

  • US Consulate

    22 Feb

    Jeanne says: I would say they will be perfectly safe. In all inclusive resorts, however, there are many Canadians and Americans...

  • ZASSHI – Japanese Bistro

    22 Feb

    Judy Johnson says: Now I wish we would have tried this restaurant!

  • US Consulate

    22 Feb

    Roz Davidson says: Hi Kelly. I just got back from Mazatlan and I would say they would be safe anywhere they decide...

Advertise your upcoming event on our free Events Calendar!
Image
    The Messenger is looking for great Mazatlan photos, taken by you our readers. There will be prizes and the chance to have your photo featured in our pages. The rules are simple and sending your photo is a snip. For full instructions on sending your photo, click here.
Image
Image

READER POLL

Mazatlán's Carnaval begins on February 16th. What is your favourite event to attend during the festivities?

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
  • LAST WEEK'S POLL

    What effigy or facsimile would you like to see set alight at the Carnaval Burning of Bad Humour this year?

    • Cruise Ship Lines (79%, 159 Votes)
    • Closure of Profeco in Mazatlán (9%, 19 Votes)
    • Jumapam (9%, 18 Votes)
    • The Venados (5%, 11 Votes)

    Total Voters: 202

    Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
  • RESTAURANT REVIEWS

    • Ocho Octavos 8/8
    • El Carboncito
    • Sefe’s Restaurant
    • Figueroa Taco Stand: Get there early. It’s Busy!
    • Christy’s Restaurant and Sports Bar
    • Cocinita Elsy “Mamuquitas”
    • Las Delicias de la Fonda
    • Sunday Brunch at the Pino Suárez Market
    • Juanita’s Restaurant
    • Molika Bakery, Deli Food with Class
    • Kai Japanese Review
    • ZASSHI – Japanese Bistro

    LINKS

      • Links

    RSS FEEDS

    • Entries RSS
    • Comments RSS

    ARCHIVES

    The Mazatlan Messenger is your best source for up-to-date informative news and opinion about people and events in Mazatlán, surrounding areas and more.