Since Oct. 24, the Coupeville School Board has met in a room named for a late board member who dedicated her life to education.

At their last meeting, board members officially dedicated their meeting room to Kathleen Anderson, the former board president who passed away peacefully at age 83 last September. Members of Anderson’s family were present at the dedication.

Superintendent Steve King first recommended that the board room, and any future board room, be named after Anderson in June of this year, and the board unanimously approved the proposal.

“As a school director and state board member, Director Anderson was known as someone who always prioritized what was best for students,” King said at the dedication.

Anderson served on the Coupeville School Board from 1980-1989 and again from 2004-2021 for a total of 26 years. Between her school board terms, she spent 15 years serving on the state Board of Education, where she was the first female president.

Board members spoke highly of Anderson and shared personal memories of her during the dedication. Board Vice President Glenda Merwine said Anderson was well known and loved throughout the state educational community; at Washington State School Directors’ Association conferences, when people noticed Merwine was from Coupeville, they would always ask about Anderson, she said.

“She was considered, truly, the grand dame of all of the small schools in the conference,” she said. “They knew her, they respected her, they asked her for mentorship. She gave it willingly.”

Anderson’s son, Craig Anderson, hung the memorial plaque in the board room.