Elsie L. Fagerlin, wife and mother, teacher and writer, friend and inspiration to many, died May 25, 2009, from ovarian cancer at the age of 92.

            As a leader in the Lutheran church and wife of a minister, she above all lived her faith. “I tell myself every morning that the way I’m going to show my Christian concern is in the way I handle problems at home or at work,” she told an interviewer in 1976. As an educator, she focused on the challenge of teaching adults to read, whether it was preparing GIs to pass their GED test, helping struggling college freshmen to learn grammar basics, privately tutoring immigrants in her home, or directing the Olympia Literacy Program.

            She was born Sept. 7, 1916, to Emma and Harry Koch in Chicago, Ill., the youngest of four children – including a twin brother, Elmer. She was raised in Chicago and was an honors student, voted “most clever” of her high school graduating class. She graduated from North Park College in the morning of June 6, 1936, and that evening married her college sweetheart, the Rev. Carl W. Fagerlin. “What a waste of an education!” an aunt remarked – an oft-quoted comment that became a family joke, for the aunt was unarguably proven wrong.

            Elsie and Carl raised three children while serving churches in Michigan, Minnesota and Washington. As a stay-at-home mom, she wrote Christian educational and devotional materials. She became a leader in the church, serving on the national executive council of the then-Lutheran Church of America (now Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) as well as holding many other national leadership positions. In 1971, she was part of a team of Lutheran women who spent five weeks in Japan, sharing experiences and insights with Christian women there.

            After her children were raised, she earned her teaching credentials and, at age 60, her master’s degree in education. In addition to her literacy program activities, she taught at Fort Lewis, under the auspices of Fort Steilacoom Community College, and at St. Martin’s College in Olympia. Upon retirement, Elsie and Carl moved to the Tacoma Lutheran Home. Carl died in 1995. Elsie continued her leadership activities, serving as president of the Resident Council, teaching Bible studies and steadfastly visiting ill and dying friends.

            She has left a legacy of faith and service for her survivors: daughter Carol Bucholz, Parkland; son Mark and wife Ericka Fagerlin, Hendersonville, N.C.; daughter Mary Koch, Omak, Wash., grandchildren Scott Daniels of Tacoma, Sandy and husband Roy Chambers of Marysville, Wash., Carl and wife Jacqueline Fagerlin of San Francisco and Eric Fagerlin of Rantoul, Ill.; great-grandchildren Tony and Chloe Chambers and Patrick and Christopher Daniels; daughter-in-law Virginia Baldwin of Walton, Neb., cherished friend Jean Birkeland of Tacoma, and a host of friends all over the country.

            A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 3, at the Tacoma Lutheran Home chapel, 1301 N. Highlands Parkway. Memorial donations are suggested to the Tacoma Lutheran Home Foundation, 1301 N. Highlands Parkway, Tacoma WA 98406, or Tacoma Area Literacy Council, P.O. Box 7210, Tacoma WA 98417-0210.