B. Catherine Lotzenhiser

B. Catherine Lotzenhiser, a Whidbey resident for nearly 20 years and an active community volunteer, died July 22, 2006 at her home in Coupeville. She was 85.

She was married for 63 years to Rear Admiral George W. Lotzenhiser, USN (Ret.).

Mrs. Lotzenhiser, known as B.K., was a community service leader in the Spokane area during the couple’s quarter century in Cheney, where her husband was the founding Dean of Fine Arts at Eastern Washington University.

As president of the board of directors of the YWCA of Spokane from 1981-83, Mrs. Lotzenhiser founded the Women of Achievement Luncheon, which remains the organization’s primary annual fundraiser and one of its top domestic violence initiatives, the Confidential Safe Shelter program.

She also served as president of the board of directors at St. Joseph’s Children’s Home in Spokane, was a board member for both the United Way of Spokane and United Way of Island County and was an active supporter of Planned Parenthood.

Mrs. Lotzenhiser was born in Guilford, Mo., to Clifford (Jack) and Nora Tuttle, and at age two moved with her parents to Tacoma. She graduated from Stadium High and attended the University of Puget Sound before becoming Tacoma’s first enlistee in the W.A.V.E.S. during World War II. She met her husband, whom she outranked at the time, while serving at Pasco Naval Air Station; they were married in 1944 and the couple lived in Michigan, Oregon and Arizona before moving to Cheney in 1960.

In addition to Dr. Lotzenhiser, she leaves a son, Jon Call Lotzenhiser of Walnut Creek, Calif.; and a granddaughter, Sara Catherine Lotzenhiser of Park City, Utah. The couple’s elder son, William Davies Lotzenhiser, died in 1991.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, August 5 at 1 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Oak Harbor; interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, donations are preferred to the following organizations: Friends of Home Health and Hospice, 101 Main, Coupeville, WA 98239; YWCA of Spokane, W. 829 Broadway, Spokane, WA 99201; Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, U. of W. Medicine Development, 1325 4th Ave., Suite 2000, Seattle, WA 98101.