Glenda Mae Carino

                        GLENDA CARINO December 11,1951-July 22, 2025

A bright light to her many friends, an intrepid news reporter who mentored others, a communications director for politicians, and a marketing director of nonprofits, Glenda Carino, who passed away on July 22, 2025, was happiest celebrating life to the fullest while surrounded by her large, extended family.

 

Born in Waipahu, Hawaii, in December 1951, Glenda was the first of Andy and Rose Carino’s eight children. Glenda spent her early life romping around with her growing family, aunties, uncles, and cousins. In 1956, the family moved to Sumner, Washington, where Andy and Rose started their family farm and transforming a one-room cannery building into their home. Glenda and her siblings worked on the farm before and after (and sometimes during) school hours. By the time she was 13, Glenda was driving a tractor, harvesting vegetables and fruit, and milking and feeding goats.

 

An avid storyteller throughout her life, Glenda regaled her friends and family with anecdotes of farm life, which included the family making their own entertainment, mostly consisting of Glenda playing clarinet, and sisters Debbie on sax and Lily on flute. Eventually, the family band expanded to include all eight siblings. Glenda enjoyed playing music her entire life.

 

In 1966, the family sold the farm and moved to Auburn when Rose and Andy were hired at Boeing. The older sisters were responsible for babysitting the younger siblings, with Glenda assigned to picking up her mother at 11:30 each night from the Boeing plant. The Carino’s Auburn home was always crowded with their family, grandparents, various dogs, and, during the summers, family visiting from Hawaii. During that time, Glenda participated in the drama club in school, and she continued to be involved in the arts and music for the rest of her life.

 

Shortly after high school graduation, Glenda married and went to work for the City of Kent and as an assistant to the President of Seattle Community Colleges. After an amicable separation, she moved to Bellingham and studied communications at Western Washington University and worked at the college radio station.

 

In the early 1980s, Glenda moved to Alaska and got her start in news at the Petersburg radio station, KFSK. She later moved to Juneau to work as reporter at KTOO and quickly rose in the ranks to become News Director. Glenda hosted Morning Edition and was the voice of Juneau (and the pride of the Filipino community) until she left journalism for politics in 1987 when she took a position as a staffer in the Alaska Legislature. She is credited by NPR international correspondent Peter Kenyon and former NPR national correspondent Elizabeth Arnold with helping to launch their journalism careers.

 

Glenda was a natural politician. Her connections, knowledge of facts, and writing skills later led to a position in Alaska Governor Tony Knowles’ administration. For eight years, she served as a Special Assistant and Press Officer to Lt. Governor Fran Ulmer. Her colleagues knew Glenda as a fun-loving woman with talent and endless energy who maintained friendships with people of all political backgrounds.

 

Always a creative person, in the early 1990s Glenda worked for Perseverance Theatre in Douglas, AK, as a Marketing Director and Sound Designer. Her style perfectly matched theater work — playful yet hardworking with a touch of irreverence. She was brilliant with the public and a sensitive artist. She leaves a large group of admiring theatre friends.

 

In 1991, Glenda remarried. Although the marriage was short-lived, they travelled around the world for six months on a fabulous honeymoon. She created a lifetime of friends and memories while working in Alaska for 20 years before moving back to the Puget Sound area to be near family.

 

Beginning in 2002, Glenda was the City of Puyallup’s Public Affairs Officer, responsible for the City’s communications and for organizing neighborhood meetings and municipal events. Deeply involved in the Puyallup community, she was a respected colleague and team member.

 

Glenda retired in 2022 after working as Communications Manager and Legislative Liaison for eight years with Arts Washington (ArtsWA). Glenda was instrumental in shaping the agency’s voice and worked tirelessly with communities and the legislative branch, as well as with the National Endowment for the Arts and Congress regarding arts, heritage, and the creative economy. This was THE dream job for Glenda, and her legacy is one of compassion, creativity, and a steadfast commitment to the belief that the arts are for everyone.

 

While in Washington, Glenda participated in a women’s tennis league, a women’s softball team, a women’s golf league and was a member of Toastmasters. Following retirement, she had time to play with her adopted Chiweenie dogs, Bella and Lulu, travel when her health permitted, host her family and friends, decorate her home, and enjoy arts and culture. Her retirement also included playing the clarinet again and singing with family and friends. She even sang karaoke just a week before she passed away from heart failure after a long battle with a rare autoimmune disease. Despite her declining health, Glenda celebrated life to the fullest.

 

Glenda is very much missed by her surviving family members – sisters Lily Ellison, Paula Marchitto (Rick), Cheryl Cariño-Burr (Ron) and Andrea Cariño; a multitude of nieces and nephews and their spouses; great-nieces and great-nephews; ohana (extended family) in Hawaii and around the country; and her beloved dogs Lulu and Bella. She has a large circle of friends around the globe that she loved like family. She was preceded in death by her parents Andrew Cariño, Sr. and Rose Carino; sister Debbie Detrick, brothers Dexter Carino and Andrew Carino Jr.; brother-in-law Leif Ellison; and nephew Drew Ellison.

 

A celebration of Glenda’s life is scheduled as follows:

 

DATE: Saturday, September 27

TIME: 5:00 PM PDT

LOCATION: Pioneer Park Pavillion, 330 South Meridian, Puyallup, Washington

RSVP to attend: Glenda Carino's Celebration of Life Invitation https://forms.office.com/r/F7sV8w5nag

 

 

In lieu of flowers, Glenda would have loved your support of the arts, public radio and television, the American Heart Association, and cancer research. Glenda was also a proponent of organ donation. Written condolences may be sent to:

Paula Marchitto, 3606 197th Ave Court East Lake Tapps, WA 98391.