Elaine F. Wachowiak, 83, died Aug. 15, 2010, at Evergreen Hospital in Totem Lake unexpectedly from heart complications. Elaine was born Aug. 19, 1926, in Detroit to Stanley Thomas Pattullo, a chauffeur from Montgomery, Mich., and Edna Sommers, his wife, from Fort Wayne, Ind. Stanley relocated his family to a sunnier climate in Pensacola, Fla., where Elaine and her brother Wallace lived most of their young lives.

After graduating from high school, Elaine, a true female pioneer, worked as an executive assistant at the age of 23 to the president of Pensacola Creosote Factory in Pensacola, supporting her family until 1954 when she met her true love, Navy pilot Francis G. Wachowiak, and married him on Oct. 9. A Navy wife, Elaine worked at home raising her four children in Hawaii, California and Minnesota, finally settling in Bothell. She served as a volunteer for the Navy Relief Society in Minnesota. She worked as a bookkeeper beginning in 1969 for Inglewood Country Club. She retired with her husband Fran in 1975 to Freeland on Whidbey Island, where for 30 years she was an active member of the community serving on a number of boards: Toddler Learning Center, Good Cheer, Island County Senior Services and the Eagles Auxiliary.

Elaine moved to Langley after the death of her husband Fran in 2001. Her smiling face and friendly personality will be missed by many of the people she visited every day in Freeland and Langley.

She is survived by two sons, Douglas and Stephen; twin daughters, Barbara and Beverly; six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

A gathering celebrating and honoring Elaine Wachowiak will be held Friday, Sept. 10, at 1:30 p.m. at Visser Funeral Home, 432 Third St., Langley. Friends and family may also view the online obituary, sign and leave messages at www.visserfuneralhome.com.

Family suggests donations be made to the Toddler Learning Center (for infants with disabilities), PO Box 633, Oak Harbor, WA 98277.