Construction crews uncover fond memories during school renovation

More than 90 years after she was a student at North Queen Anne Elementary School, a local woman has been reconnected with long-lost childhood memories.

Ruthie Ghormley, then Ruthie Hanson, resides at Aegis Living Rodgers Park, right next door to her former elementary school building, North Queen Anne Elementary School, which is currently undergoing an expansion project to better accommodate the needs of students and staff at Cascade Parent Partnership, based at the old school site.

The North Queen Anne School building is undergoing upgrades to better meet the needs of Cascade Parent Partnership. 

During this renovation, an unexpected discovery was made by members of the construction crew. In one of the building’s original classrooms was an old chalkboard. Upon closer inspection, the crew noticed multiple signatures of former students of North Queen Anne Elementary, including Ghormley’s and her close school friends. Nearly nine decades since the signing of her name, members of the Seattle School Board discovered Ghormley still lived in the neighborhood and contacted her family.

With the support of staff at Aegis Living Rodgers Park, Ghormley was reconnected with her past in June and took an outing to see her former school and the chalkboard where she left her mark. Her daughter Sally Villaluz Ghormley accompanied her on this adventure.

“I experienced tears of joy for my mother,” Sally Villaluz Ghormley said during the trip in June. “This was an incredibly memorable and moving moment for me. To think, just three weeks ago, my mother was in the hospital fighting for her life, and today she was able to walk to the chalkboard. I want to extend my deepest gratitude towards the construction crew and team at Aegis Living for making this experience possible.”

Villaluz Ghormley captured a picture of her mother and the crew in front of the board, which could not be salvaged, to preserve the memory of this special day.

The project is funded by the Building Excellence V (BEX V) Capital Levy, approved by Seattle voters in 2019, and the Buildings, Technology, and Academics/Athletics IV (BTA IV) Capital Levy, approved by voters in 2016.

Aegis Living Rogers Park is an assisted living and memory care community. With a nearly 25-year history serving area seniors, Aegis has 20 other communities in the Puget Sound. Its goal is to fill every resident’s day with moments of joy and purpose.