Resident of Vancouver, WA

Arden Merle (Gray) Lawson Schlichting, 94, of Vancouver, WA passed away on April 15, 2025, after a long and fulfilling life. She was born November 3, 1930, in Los Angeles CA, to Josephine Marie Dunlop and Lisle Meredith Gray.

Arden grew up in Los Angeles, CA graduating from Los Angeles High School. She was a singer for the Roger Wagner Chorale and stage performer at the La Jolla Playhouse in her late teens, where she was acquainted with Gregory Peck and his family. She met her first husband, Henry Spencer Lawson III, at a Hollywood party. Arden is survived by two children, Holly Suzanne Patton (David) of Vancouver, WA and Henry Spencer Lawson IV (Marcia) of Saratoga, CA. Arden is also survived by her two step-sons, Jim Schlichting (Anita) of Colorado Springs, CO and Tom Schlichting of Cupertino, CA.

Arden began her 30 plus year career at Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto starting the summer of 1961. While working there, she met her second husband, James Leonard Schlichting and they married on July 9, 1977. They enjoyed 25 years of a happy marriage until Jim died of Parkinson’s Disease on January 10, 2004. She was an avid skier, camper, dancer (especially the Charleston), bridge player, seamstress, gardener, yoga enthusiast, traveler and grandmother of eleven, Kimberly, David, Amanda, Fiona, Jillian, Rebekah, Sarah, Brent, Laura, Krista, Moriah and seventeen great-grandchildren.

Arden had a wonderful sense of humor. When she found out her son-in-law turned down free tickets to a Dallas Cowboys football game because they were going to be visiting, she dressed up as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader to “bring the cheerleader to him.” While still living in California, one of her children (we won’t mention which one) asked her to cultivate a small seedling which had been started in a windowsill. With the talent of a seasoned horticulturist and an indoor atrium, she grew the most beautiful marijuana plant you’d ever seen – much to her chagrin when she found out what it was. But she always had a laugh for the misguided youth. That laugh is what will be remembered, cherished and missed the most.