Ed Adams was born in San Jose, California. His early years were spent in a rustic cabin on what was aptly called “Rattlesnake Ranch” in the Santa Cruz Mountains. By the time he was school age (Ed was an only child), the family had moved to San Jose where he could easily walk to school and bicycle to places farther away. He took up photography as a hobby and even created his own dark room in the family

basement. By junior high school he was providing photos for the school newspaper, and found further satisfaction in running the lighting and creating sets for dramatic performances.

College became elusive for Ed, but he discovered international folkdancing before he enlisted in the U. S. Army during the Korean War. He found himself in England helping construct an airbase there, learned

surveying, took courses in both drafting schematics for electronics units and assembling them, and traveled the countryside anytime he could get leave to do so.

After his time in the service, Ed went back to San Jose where he worked for a time before working in Palo Alto. Both electronics and international folk dance prompted his move to Seattle in 1961. Ed held a number of different jobs in the Seattle area, and when not working he was able to enjoy hiking, climbing, dancing, set building, photographing and more with the Mountaineers. He kept dancing with Skandia Folkdance Society also.

In 1976 Ed married Nancy, who he had met twelve years earlier at an Anacortes folkdance festival. They lived in Seattle where they raised two children until 2007, when they move to Stanwood, Washington. It had been a dream of Ed’s to have “5 acres and independence” somewhere. That perfect spot turned out

to be in Stanwood.

Ed loved being a father to both his son and daughter, and later to several grandchildren. He is survived by his children, grandchildren, and his loving wife of 47 years, Nancy. Ed’s final, fitting, directive for someone who enjoyed independence and the outdoors as he did, was, “just plant me somewhere.” That is what the family is beginning to do with the help of the Earth Funeral Group in Auburn. WA. 

Ed and Nancy volunteered for decades at Midsommarfest, helping greatly in the flower crown area. Skandia Folkdance Society appreciates very much their dedication to this festival.

June Evanoff passed away peacefully in May, 2024. Born in Seattle 93 years earlier to Swedish immigrants, she lived here most of her life, graduating from the University of Washington. She married, had three children and worked in various clerical positions during her career.

June is part of Skandia Folkdance history as a dancer, as a hostess of Swedish musicians who came to visit, and notably as a Swedish-American demonstrator of the Swedish version of rosemaling at the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The painting created for that event remains in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Besides being a dancer, and an accomplished oil painter, June taught piano, was a gourmet cook, and had a private printing press and created several editions of artistic books. She enjoyed camping, boating, traveling, parties and family activities. Skandia Folkdance Society is still benefitting from her love of Swedish traditions because her daughter and son-in-law have been active in Skandia, and also her granddaughter, Anna, is an accomplished fiddler and nyckelharpa player who performs at dances and at Midsommarfest.

June is survived by her two sons, her daughter, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family, and cherished friends. June’s children would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all her family and friends for their loving influence on her life. She was blessed.

Information for this in memoriam was provided by June’s family.

Karin Gustafson was born November 2, 1929, in Dalsland, Sweden. She lived for many years in Edmonds, Washington, and passed away at home on July 2, 2023. She was ninety-three. Karin was an active member of Skandia Folkdance Society for decades. She also performed with Nordiska Folkdancers and Leikarringen of Leif Erikson Lodge in Ballard, along with her long-time dance partner Gerry Folkestad. 

Here are memories of Karin shared in an email from Norsk Folkedans Stemne: 

Karin was a constant donor to Norsk Folkedans Stemne, even during the COVID years. Her support often went to scholarships for the young dancers attending Stemne. 

Karin made treats (lunch) for the hard workers who put the dance floors together at Camp Brotherhood; baked the salmon for our fundraising salmon dinner; provided flowers for Stemne; and so many other things she did just for our event. Karin, with Gerry, was also a welcome volunteer for many events at Leif Erikson Lodge and for other organizations. 

She also loved going to Trollhaugen for skiing, and she transported many boxes of food for Leikarringen’s dance and skiing weekend. 

Once when Karin went to Rochester, WA, to participate in their Swede Day, she was interviewed by The Chronicle, a Centralia, WA online newspaper. Karin, who was wearing the blue and yellow national dress, said participating in Swede Day brought back memories of her youth where they would dance outside all summer. After the Midsommar dance in Sweden all the girls would pick seven kinds of flowers, put them under their pillow at night and dream about who they would marry. “Midsommar was a romantic event,” she said. 

Karin, who carried herself elegantly, who was poised and kind to all, is greatly missed by family and friends.

We are sad to announce the passing of Gary Nichols on October 10, 2023. Gary died peacefully with his daughters by his side. 

Gary's parents, Vernon and Ruth Nichols, took their young family to homestead in Anchorage, Alaska in 1941. Alaska was an ideal proving ground for Gary, teaching him self-reliance, frugality, and curiosity about his world. As an adult, Gary returned to Alaska multiple times to visit the area he grew up in and the streets his mother named. 

Gary worked as a technician for WA State Patrol, United Airlines, and the University of Washington Department of Bioengineering. At UW Gary helped doctors and scientists create medical devices to further their research. He loved his job. 

Gary's interests included classical music, computers, vegetable gardening, flying, and Scandinavian folk music and dancing. He loved to tinker and collected all kinds of tools, instruments, and machinery, sometimes to the chagrin of his family. He could fix just about anything. At heart, he was an inventor. 

His interest in Scandinavian folk music and dancing led him to meeting Christine Noah. They were part of a performing dance troupe, Leikarringen, and a musical group, Trollvinden, in which he played the guitar and she played the recorder. Trollvinden played at dances and even recorded an album. 

Gary and Chris married in 1977 and had two daughters: Katy in 1985 and Josy in 1988. Chris, at just shy of 43 years old, tragically passed away in 1990 of breast cancer when their daughters were 5 and 2 years old. Gary retired immediately to raise his daughters. He made sure that, like their mother, they learned how to play the piano and pursued advanced degrees. He frequently played accompaniment to his daughters' piano performances, working out the chords on his guitar or one of the many instruments he collected or invented. Gary always included his children in his own passions. There was never a question of whether his girls could do something, just when and how, and this translated to crash courses in computers and engineering and many hours tending his garden with him. Katy and Josy's respective careers of Computational Linguist and Dietitian reflect their father's early and eager support. He will be greatly missed. 

Gary is survived by his daughters Kathryn Egan (spouse: Bryan) of Redmond and Josann Nichols of Seattle; his sister Nancy Demmitt (spouse: Dallas) of Gilbert Arizona; his sisters-in-law, Barbara Noah and Judy Noah; his nieces, Grace Takashima, Lori Lambert, Beth Oliver; and his great niblings Luke, Josh, Zach, Sophia, and Lily.