April 8, 1939 – September 4, 2025

Meg was born Margaret Elizabeth Helphrey, to Elizabeth and James Helphrey in Spokane WA, on April 8, 1939. She was the second of four siblings, along with Carol, David, and Donald. Her father ran the Curlew Creamery and in her long life she never forgot the wonderful flavor of his Curlew ice cream. From her mother she learned sewing and created many stylish outfits over the years. As a child she was both adventurous and emotional: For a time, her parents had to avoid taking her to movies, as she would become inconsolable during scary or sad scenes. Meg studied classical piano from a young age, kindling a lifelong love of classical music. She graduated in the top of her Lewis and Clark High School class of 1957.

Meg enrolled at the University of Washington and joined the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She was social but not a partier, and often could be found studying in a lighted closet at the sorority house. She graduated magna cum laude with the U.W. Class of 1961, with Phi Beta Kappa honors in her field of history.

In her senior year, Meg encountered Richard Singer, a journalism/art student at the university. They shared an interest in art and music, and a penchant for long conversations. Richard was dating Meg’s roommate, Gail. Little did Meg know that she and Richard would eventually spend half of their lives together.

After graduation, Meg found jobs scarce for a newly-graduated history major. At her father’s urging, she took courses in typing and clerical work in Spokane, which led to a stint in D.C. as a typist for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Later in life, she would joke that she was in “the belly of the beast” and didn’t even know it! After returning to Washington, Meg married Tom Cockrell, a gifted fellow student, and moved with him to the San Francisco area. There, she took a clerical job in a San Francisco law firm.

Meg and Tom eventually parted ways, after which she earned a Masters in Public Health from UCLA. In 1970 she was offered the position of Director at a new free family clinic in Venice (Los Angeles). Meg knew there were many low income families who needed medical care, so she took it on with energy and enthusiasm. When she retired from the clinic in 1982, it had multiple locations, and thousands of patients. She had helped make Venice Free Clinic the most renowned free clinic in the U.S.

During her time as Clinic Director, she married Walter Price, a UCLA Ph.D. student, with whom she shared an enthusiasm for gourmet food and fine oriental rugs. By incorporating her grandmother’s family name, she became Meg Ross-Price. Meg and Walter separated in the late 1970s, but they remained friends for the rest of Meg’s life.

At 42 years old, Meg had a new job at the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center. Needing a housemate at her rental house in L.A., she took in Kris Knox, a UCLA medical student. Kris became a lifelong friend, not only to Meg, but the entire Singer family.

Three years later, Richard and Meg had a phone call that continued into the early hours of the morning. Richard, also now divorced, convinced Meg to move back to the Northwest and share his house in the Boyer neighborhood of Seattle. That move would include Meg’s Grand Piano, three cats, furnishings, books and classical recordings, oriental rugs and closets of clothes. Just as their two full lives became one, their two grand pianos now shared one half of the living room.

Thus began their most happy time, full of old and new friends, concerts and art galleries, and travel adventures. Meg, not satisfied to relax after her move, took a number of temporary jobs, including with the Seattle Boat Show. She made herself invaluable and usually her employer begged her to stay on. Soon, the newly forged couple had new long-term jobs: Meg as a cancer prevention manager at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Richard in computer work for King County Medical Blue Shield.

They traveled the world. In their time together they visited the French Canal d’Midi, England, the Netherlands, Egypt, Africa, Australia & New Zealand and Japan. Later, they road-tripped across Canada and the U.S., and visited Costa Rica, the Marquesas and at least 10 other countries.

Richard and Meg were married in the Chinese Room at the top of Seattle’s Smith Tower on January 5, 1991. It was a beautiful winter night with snow falling and stars between the flakes. The best party of their lives featured tables piled with food, Greta Matassa’s jazz band, a classical string quartet, and dancing. Their brother in law, the Presbyterian Rev. Bud Sparling, officiated, joking that he was OK with the secular character of the wedding as long as he didn’t have to intone any Buddhist chants.

Fulfilling one of Richard’s lifelong dreams, the two collaborated with architect Paul Hedrick to design a new house on Lopez Island, able to accommodate family and guests, as well as a dedicated art studio. Meg had been working toward a degree in Interior Design at Bellevue College, and even took a course in lighting, with their new house in mind. Richard and Meg both retired in 1995, to focus on the house and, of course, more world travel. In 1997 the dream house was ready and they moved in.

Although she did not have her own children, Meg adored babies and loved her Goddaughter Annie Milos, who she knew from birth. Another happy note was the birth of Jordan and Yoko’s daughter, Corinna, in 2002, for whom Meg became a loving and beloved grandmother. Amid many laughs and hugs, the good times gave Meg her family — as did the numerous cats she adopted, 27 in all, and each one her special baby.

In 2014, Richard and Meg took their last international trip, to the Marquesas Islands. Meg had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. She was able to enjoy the beautiful islands, but got lost in the big Tahitian Hotel. Back home, Meg had to start sharing cooking duties with Richard, complaining that, “It feels like cooking in somebody else’s kitchen. I don’t know where anything is!”

Despite relentless measures taken by Richard to find some treatment for her dementia, Meg continued to gradually lose her memory, though not her personality. She and Richard enjoyed island life, attending many concerts and playing bocci ball with their friend Steve. They visited Seattle regularly to pursue medical treatment and spend time with friends and family.

In her later years, Meg yearned for her childhood home in Spokane, leading Richard to drive her around Lopez until she was satisfied that she had done enough searching. Always an adventurous spirit, on a few occasions Meg managed to slip out of the house and walk to locations miles away, where she would be found none the worse for wear after her adventure. Always enthusiastic about music, her last big concert experience was hearing the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Seattle’s Neptune Theater in 2023. Afterward Richard exclaimed, “She danced like a teenager!”

In early 2024, Meg moved to The Lighthouse Memory Care in Anacortes. The staff there treated her with much love and tended to her every need. They made taking medicine pleasurable (in applesauce). When she cried, they comforted her. Her speech didn’t make sense after a while. By mid-2025 she couldn’t walk and wanted to sleep most of the time. She had no fear or anxiety and in her bed looked like a sleeping baby with no worries. On September 4, she passed away peacefully in her sleep.

Meg is survived by her loving husband, Richard; her brother, Don Helphrey (Jan) of Stanwood WA; Nephews Bryan (Suzie) and Matt (Lisa) Sparling of Denver CO; Niece Meg Sparling of Denver CO; Stepson Jordan Singer (Yoko) of Seattle; Stepson Evan Singer of Lopez Is., WA; niece Meg Helphrey of Sultan WA; Nephew Alex Helphrey (& family) of Stanwood WA; Granddaughter Corinna Singer of Stanford, CA; Sister in law Midge Lucas (Peter) of Medina, WA; Brother in law Steve Singer (Patty) of Bellevue, WA; and Goddaughter Annie Milos of Lopez Island.