Carolyn “Carrie” Rowse West died peacefully at home on Bainbridge Island, Washington on March 4, 2025, supported by dear friends and family. She bravely lived with progressive supranuclear palsy for the last several years. Born on Jan. 3, 1950, she was the oldest of five, growing up on a farm in Townsend, MA. Carrie’s boundless energy and curiosity helped her build incredible friendships and explore nature in the Pacific Northwest, where she lived most of her life.

After graduating from Lasell Junior College in Newton, MA, she drove west to Seattle in 1972, where she fell in love with the bays and mountains, the variety of foods and cultures, the weather, and the progressive ideas of the people. She was curious and loved learning new things. She took an auto mechanics course, climbed Mt. St Helens, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Rainier, and took up road biking and sea kayaking. She served on the kayak support team for the Arms Around Bainbridge 30 mile swim to support women with cancer and other medical issues.

Influenced by a very creative restaurateur, Carrie developed a life-long interest in organic food. While working in the produce department of one of the first retail co-ops, now PCC Community Markets, she realized that educating consumers increased sales. So, she made signs showing who grew the produce and developed relationships with the farmers so that she could explain to the consumer why the organic produce was worth the higher price. She was promoted and became one of the first female produce managers in the country. She often had to buy produce from older male salesmen who had no interest in organic food, but she managed to convince many of them that her customers wanted food free from pesticides. Later, she helped create the organics division at Charlie’s Produce in Seattle.

In 1985, she helped shape the legislation making Washington the second state in the nation to adopt third-party certification for organic produce. She brought together organic farmers, the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture (WSDA) and a state senator she knew from the PCC board. They developed a certification program that the farmers would pay for and WSDA would administer. She testified before the Agriculture Committee in favor of the law and the WSDA appointed her to the board that advised them on implementation.

Just like her move to Seattle and her leap of faith into organic produce, Carrie’s decision at age 65 to apply to Smith College to complete her BA showed great courage and determination. When she graduated, she was 69! In addition to her professional success, she had many good friends and was good at staying in contact with friends and family. Even her 95-year-old grandmother was impressed after Carrie visited her in Florida in 1989: “She made a big hit here. She made so many friends, young and old.”

Carrie is survived by her four siblings,Ted West of Canterbury, NH, Sue West of Brunswick, ME, Ginny West of College Station, TX, and Andy West of Royalston, MA, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins who will miss her laugh and fun-loving spirit. She loved nature and was passionate about protecting it. Memorial contributions can be made to Bainbridge Island Land Trust or Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust.