The inimitable Trudy James Sundberg died Saturday, June 29 at the age of 88 in her Oak Harbor home, with her family by her side, reciting Dickinson, Yeats and Shakespeare up until her final breaths.

A public school teacher for most of her life, Trudy shaped the minds and lives of thousands of young people, sharing her lifelong passion for literature, ideas, and civic engagement with all those she met.

Trudy was well known on Whidbey Island as an activist and democratic innovator: founder of the Whidbey Island Democratic Club, three-term president and lifelong member of the League of Women Voters, member of the Whidbey Island AAUW, supporter of the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, advocate and leader of the Oak Harbor High School Debate Team, founder of the Save Our Kids Crusade anti-violence coalition, founder of numerous book clubs, and recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington State Democrats.

Her tireless energy and devotion to good, representative government lives on.

Her whole life Trudy had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, a deep curiosity for the world, and a passion for engaging with her community.

Everyone she met was familiar with her warm, contagious smile.

A dear friend, mentor, muse, and humanist, Trudy continuously inspired those around her to live fully. While she will be sorely missed, her incomaparable spirit lives on. May the angels she loved and cared for now watch over her.

She was predeceased by her devoted and loving husband of 56 years, Captain John P. Sundberg, USN (ret). She is survived by her four children, Kris Sundberg (Nancy), Jan Whitsitt (Bob), Lana Sundberg and Dane Sundberg, and her three grandchildren Lily Whitsitt, Sean Whitsitt, and Kristin Sundberg.

A memorial service will take place in August at Oak Harbor High School Commons.

The date and time will be forthcoming.

In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Trudy may be made to the League of Women Voters, the Whidbey Island Democratic Club, and the Navy-Marine Corp Relief Society.

Each that we

lose takes part of us;

A crescent still abides,

Which like the moon,

some turbid night,

Is summoned by the tides.

– Emily Dickinson

A celebration of Trudy’s life will be held Saturday, August 31 at 2pm in the Oak Harbor High School Commons.