Washington’s oldest real estate agent dies at 100

Joyce Vanderpol, the oldest real estate agent in Washington state and an active Blaine community member, died peacefully on September 8. She was 100.

“After people met her, they were inspired,” said Terry Conway, Vanderpol’s business partner. “She was simply amazing and inspirational.”

Vanderpol was born on January 14, 1924 in Kirkland alongside her twin and best friend, Renie. Vanderpol’s mother, from London, had met her father, an American WWI soldier, at a dance for troops overseas. Vanderpol met her husband in the seventh grade, and upon graduating high school, she worked for the New Deal agency, Farm Security Administration. She later worked at U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Blaine while her husband was stationed at Whidbey Island’s Navy air station.

Vanderpol retired after 30 years in civil service and earned her associate’s degree from Whatcom Community College. She transitioned to real estate and quickly opened a Blaine office on Peace Portal Drive with six agents. In the mid-’80s, Vanderpol downsized to a one-person office.

When she was 99, Vanderpol told The Northern Light that she worked nearly 60 hours per week, seven days per week, out of her Vanderpol Realty and Notary office on H Street. The Washington State Department of Licensing confirmed  Vanderpol was the oldest real estate agent in Washington state at the time of her death. Vanderpol was working the evening before she died, Conway said.

Vanderpol had said she was motivated to help buyers find the right house and continued working fulltime to keep busy after Renie died in 2020.

Bellingham resident Aurelie Hurd, 100, met Vanderpol nearly five years ago and the pair became quick friends, bonding over being born two weeks apart, tennis and their love for good banter. The two spent Christmases together and met up  on Thursdays for tuna, egg and mayo sandwiches, though Hurd noted it was hard to get Vanderpol out of the office.

“We had a short and nice time together,” she said. “We had fun arguing. She had a good sense of humor.”

Vanderpol was a philanthropist dedicated to the community through contributing to organizations like the Blaine Public Library, Blaine Senior Center and Blaine Food Bank. In 2022, Vanderpol donated the proceeds from selling a spec home to those organizations. She decided that would be her last home sold because the cost of lots and materials were too expensive to create a reasonable home price for the customer.

“I’m sure she did a lot that no one knew about,” said Marta Kazymyra, Vanderpol’s friend of over 30 years. “I would take her envelopes to the post office to mail them for her. Every month, there would be at least 30 envelopes and those would all be donations she made to different organizations.”

Kazymyra, a retired Blaine doctor, met Vanderpol as her patient and the two became good friends, with a shared love of playing tennis together. Kazymyra said Vanderpol had a Stella Artois beer and Lay’s plain potato chips every night before dinner, her favorite color was purple and she had a love for flowers.

At 85, Vanderpol began playing tennis professionally, with a career highlight being selected by Wilson Sporting Goods to play in Austria. Prior to Vanderpol begrudgingly hanging up the racket at 97, Conway said she had to play against 80 year olds because there weren’t enough people her age.

She also served on Blaine’s airport commission, the parks commission and spent 25 years as president of Blaine Harborview Condo Association.

Conway said Vanderpol had a passion for learning and a vocabulary that rivaled attorneys and doctors. Vanderpol had a strong interest in keeping up with technology, which is how she bonded two decades ago with Conway, a real estate agent with a background in software product management.

“People would think she was 20 years or younger and just be in awe,” Conway said. “She brought a good, warm feeling to people. She was aging like most of us want to age.”

In 2023, Vanderpol told The Northern Light she believed she had lived so long because of her ability to think positively.

“Don’t just sit at home watching TV. Get out and start walking and get into activities at the senior center,” she recommended to seniors. “Go to the senior center and you can meet people there. You can have lunch and dinners to take home there. It’s quite an opening for seniors.”

Vanderpol is preceded in death by her twin sister Renie Hill, husband Nicholas Vanderpol, brother Bill Becker and sister Doris Lundvall. She is survived by sister-in-Iaw Patricia FoxIy, nephews Barry LundvaII and Gary Becker, and nieces Vicki Richardson and Gerrie SaII.

In lieu of flowers, donations to local charities are requested. No public services are planned per Vanderpol’s request.

“Let’s be blunt,” Hurd said. “Joyce was invincible.”