Lifelong Washingtonians Karl and Bev Black have built a legacy that reflects their shared love of the environment, sweet desserts, dedication to family — and each other.

They met more than 45 years ago, in the hippie heyday, at a friendly potluck. Knowing glances over Bev’s chocolate-chip cookies turned into love at first sight; Karl was hooked at first bite. The two set to homesteading in the Skokomish Valley, hand-building their rustic dream cabin on fifteen acres of raw mountain-valley bliss while running a small local greenhouse business.

The valley became the birthplace and home of their three children — Trail, Alana, and Joel — and Karl and Bev marked their land with fields of ornamental Japanese maples and vibrant seasonal blooms.

Then, on a 1984 road trip to Seattle, a scoop of refreshing cantaloupe sorbet sparked an exciting new vision. With three young children at home, trading horticulture for food production was an intimidating leap that demanded plenty of soul-searching. Karl and Bev knew achieving their dream would be no simple task.

“Heavenly Gelato” soon opened in Lacey, WA, and the family immersed themselves in learning everything they could about making the best possible product. After two years, they realized their small mall storefront couldn’t support a dream of dozens of gourmet flavors. Still believing strongly in the product, they began selling wholesale to restaurants around Puget Sound — and found a foodie niche hungry for custom-crafted gourmet sorbets and ice cream. They renamed the business Olympic Mountain Ice Cream, applied their small-batch gelato craft, and launched their original line of super-premium ice creams.

More than thirty years later, Karl and Bev hold the same incredibly high standards — forever convinced that ice cream should be an indulgence worth savoring.

Today the children are all grown, and grandchildren play in the yard of the forested family home and ice cream factory where it all continues, one small batch at a time.