1972 – 2026
Angelica Mushen Mandell
Angelica Mushen Mandell, beloved wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend, passed away on Tuesday August 18, 2026, at Evergreen Health Hospice in Kirkland, WA, surrounded by family and friends. She is survived by her husband Ira Mandell, her daughter Camryn Mandell, her sister Nancy Mushen, her brother Timothy Mushen, her brother Gregory Mushen, her sister Melanie Mushen, her sister and adoptive mother Jeneé Pearce-Mushen and her adoptive father, Robert Mushen.
Angelica, or Angie as everyone called her, was born January 7,1972 in Mexico City. She had a difficult childhood. She moved with her family to Fresno, CA as a young child. Angie spent part of her childhood in foster care before coming to live with her older sister, Jeneé in Richland, WA. Angie and her younger sister, Nancy, were later adopted by Jeneé and her husband, Robert Mushen. Angie enjoyed school and graduated from Kamiakin High School in Kennewick, WA, where she was active on the soccer team. She then attended Eastern Washington University in Cheney, WA, where she earned a BA in social work in 1995 and an MSW in 1997. She also nearly completed her Master of Public Administration prior to graduation. In college, Angie remained active in sports including soccer, rugby and triathlons. She was an active member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.
After graduating college, Angie’s early career in social work was devoted to psychotherapy for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems, working at several mental health centers throughout Washington, serving in the capacity of Clinical Supervisor. Soon thereafter, she had the opportunity to join Casey Family Programs, a preeminent leader in foster care services nationwide with headquarters in Seattle. Working out of their Portland, Tacoma and Seattle locations, Angie took on the challenges of an imperfect system, using her own experiences in foster care as a reference. Serving as a Clinical Supervisor and Resource Family Practice Manager, she passionately worked to train and supervise clinical staff, standardize services and best practices and design and monitor quality assurance programs and outcomes. She also served as the Family Developer Team leader for training and clinical programs in nine states. In short, she fought to make the foster care experience more meaningful and sustaining for both children and families. She was recognized by her colleagues for her dedication, work ethic, leadership and unyielding efforts to make life better for those she served.
Perhaps, Angie’s most remarkable and enduring quality, that likely underlies her professional accomplishments, was her profuse generosity of spirit, finding humanity and goodness in everyone she met. She believed that every person, no matter their color or how rich or poor, deserves to be seen, to be heard and to be valued.
In 2006 Angie ventured east to Baltimore to be with her soon to be fiancé, Ira (Buddy) Mandell, whom she married in 2009. They were blessed with the birth of their daughter, Camryn (Cammie), who was the light of Angie’s life. After moving to Maryland, Angie continued to work for Casey at their Washington DC office as a program/data analyst until she retired in 2009 to devote herself full-time to raising Cammie. She was heavily involved in Cammie’s preschool and elementary school, serving as room parent, introducing Hispanic culture in the classroom and organizing events such as the annual Holiday Bazar. She also forged strong friendships that have endured to this day. The family moved back to the Pacific Northwest in 2018 after Buddy retired from his medical practice, settling into their current home in Woodinville, WA. Over the past 4 years, Angie sought to resume her career in a different way, becoming involved in DEI in the cyber sector, working as an Expert Advisor for the Messaging, Malware, Mobile, Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) in collaboration with her dear friend and Microsoft cybersecurity specialist, Janet Jones. Angie provided expertise to help international industry organizations create diverse and inclusive cultures.
Outside of work and motherhood, Angie loved being active outdoors, snowboarding, cycling and hiking. She loved traveling and visiting new places. From Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood to bike trips on the San Juan Islands, to Vancouver, Whistler, Lake Chelan, Hawaii, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. She was in her element.
Most of all, Angie was a big-hearted, loving, bundle of energy, who made people smile wherever she went. She will be dearly missed and loved forever and always in our hearts!
In lieu of flowers, the family requests you consider making a donation to Casey Family Programs (www.casey.org) or Treehouse (www.treehouseforkids.org) in Angie’s memory.
No funeral service will take place. The family is planning to have a Celebration of Angie’s Life in the next few months, at a place and time to be posted on this site for those who would like to attend.