Laura Marie Rothaus

Laura Marie Rothaus, the youngest of five children (four older brothers), was born in Seattle, WA on September 23, 1959. She attended Christ the King Grade School and Bishop Blanchet High School where she graduated in 1977. Longbeach, CA was home for Laura from 1985 to 1991 where she worked on the Queen Mary. When the opportunity arose to assist in opening a restaurant in Anacortes, Laura returned to the Pacific Northwest.
Having known Craig “Mac” MacPherson for many years, they started dating in 1995 and were married on October 4th, 2004 at Roche Harbor where they keep their boat. They enjoyed spending time on “La Dolce Vita” and cruising beaches for agates. Laura loved bird watching and just being in the sun.

Laura obtained a Massage Therapist License in 1996 but worked primarily in the restaurant industry were she catered to the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. As a result of her skills and caring attitude she was invited to work aboard a luxury yacht were she was employed until June of last year making many trips from the San Juans to Southeastern Alaska.

In September, 2013, Laura was diagnosed with liver cancer. After several months of further testing they found that liver cancer was an incorrect diagnosis. The primary cancer was actually in her thyroid but had metastasized to her liver, lungs and spine. Medullary Thyroid Cancer is fairly rare, striking only about 5% of people with thyroid cancer. The good news was that this is a very slow growing cancer, so the doctors determined that treatment was not necessary at this time. In a follow-up oncology CT the doctor noticed a small abscess on Laura’s large intestine. The small abscess became a large abscess which perforated her intestine sending waste material into her gut. Laura became extremely ill and was admitted to University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) in the beginning of March. Day one at UWMC doctors inserted multiple drains into her abdomen and removed three liters of infectious material. It was determined on day two that surgery was required to clean the infection. Chances of survival were small but without the surgery, death would follow in a few days from septicemia. With the abdominal fluid minimized and massive doses of IV antibiotics, Laura became more stable allowing the surgery to be performed on day five. Laura was at UWMC for 40 days then transferred to a skilled nursing facility where she continued on IV antibiotics and almost weekly blood transfusions.

Always the hostess and care giver, Laura was not able to serve others while in the hospital and so was not comfortable with visitors. While her road had many ups and downs, she was certainly recovering and able to enjoy some sunny afternoons at the nursing facility. Eventually however, multiple complications including cirrhosis of the liver, chronic anemia disease and malnutrition made it extremely difficult to fight the infection. On June 23rd, Laura became ill with severe abdominal pain and was admitted to UWMC again. She passed away July 9th at 2:15 a.m. From Laura’s first day in the hospital to her last, she was never alone. Her husband, Mac, or her brother, Jay were there beside her.

Laura will fondly be remembered as one who spent a majority of her life caring for others. She is survived by her husband, Craig “Mac” MacPherson, her mother and stepfather, Mary and Gene Vishtak, brother Jay and sister-in-law, Rochelle Rothaus and their children, Kelsea (22) and Ryan (19) as well as brother Randy and sister-in-law, Shawna Rothaus and their children Michael (16) and twins Austin and Jaryd (13). Laura had two brothers who passed before her, Mickey in 1960 and Gary in 2007.

In Laura’s words a couple weeks ago during a meeting with Mac, Jay and a Palliative Care Doctor, “I want everyone to be in the sunshine.”

Funeral Mass will be held at Christ the King Catholic Church, Seattle, Friday July 18th at 2:00 pm. All are welcome. Reception to follow.