Miriam was born Miriam Nancy Plourde on Sept. 20, 1944, to Albert E. (Earl) and Miriam I. Plourde in Iron Mountain, Mich.

As a young pianist, she won every piano competition she entered in high school and college and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1966 from Alaska Methodist University.

In 1968, she married fellow college student William E. Combs and received the first Master of Arts in Piano Performance in 1970 from Western Washington University. They moved to Montesano in 1973 where Bill pastored the Presbyterian Church for 11 years. They moved to Seattle to get closer to medical help for Miriam.

She wrote and illustrated three children’s picture books, one of which was selected as the Best Children’s Book of 2010 by Kirkus Indie.

Her medical condition continued to worsen and in 2014, she was diagnosed with late-stage chronic Lyme disease. She passed away Dec. 1, 2016, at their home in North Seattle.

She is survived by her husband Bill and her nephew Shawn Plourde, son of her late brother Pete Plourde.

To God Be The Glory