Dorthyan Lund

Dorthyan Lund, age 92, passed away on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2009, in Sammamish, Washington. She was born in Portland, Oregon to Florence and James W. Ethington on May 24, 1917. Before she was 2 years old, the marriage ended and her mother moved to Seattle where Dorthyan attended the public schools and graduated from Broadway High School. She met her future husband, Hans Lund while both were students at the University of Washington where she majored in English literature and was a member of Alpha Phi sorority. Hans and Dorthyan were married on June 20, 1938 in Seattle.  They moved to Tonasket in 1946 where Hans joined his uncle and father as an officer in The First National Bank in Tonasket. Along with supporting her husband in his banking career and raising 4 daughters, Dorthyan was actively involved in the community affairs in Tonasket including the Congregational Church, Tonasket Garden Club and serving as President of The Civic League. She supported numerous youth activities, serving as Camp Fire Leader, as Bible School Director and as Youth Fellowship Teacher in the Congregational Church and as the Governor’s appointee to a White House Conference on Youth. She was an avid reader and supporter of the library system and was appointed to State Regional Library Board.

After her youngest daughter entered college, Dorthyan spent several summers living in the dorms at the University of Washington while taking classes in Danish literature and ethnic studies. In 1979 Hans and Dorthyan moved back to Seattle where they lived on Bitter Lake for the next 23 years. Dorthyan quickly embraced a new interest by enrolling in the first of many exercise classes that ranged from Jazz Dance to Tai Chi, an activity that she continued to pursue into her 90’s.  She also embarked on an intense period of foreign travel with whomever she could round up as a traveling companion:  Aunt Rosie, a friend from the Library Board, a former UW roommate and, eventually, her husband became an enthusiastic traveler as well. Together they visited Great Britain and nearly every country in Asia, as well as Scandinavia, Switzerland, and France with their daughters and grandchildren.

In the fall of 2002, Hans and Dorthyan moved into an apartment in the Ida Culver Broadview retirement community where they both made new friends and where Dorthyan participated in both the book and play-reading clubs and in the exercise programs, being just one of the two remaining participants in the aerobic class when she celebrated her 90^th birthday. In 2008, following a sudden illness and a stay of several months in the nursing home at Ida Culver, she moved to an Adult Family Home in the Issaquah area, near the home of her daughter, Sally.

Dorthyan had many interests and talents that will long be remembered by her family and others who knew her.  She was an avid gardener and landscaper, and a talented flower arranger who won numerous blue ribbons in the Tonasket Garden Club shows. She was also an excellent cook whose meals for special occasions were legendary in her family. Her artistic nature and designer’s eye were evident in each of her homes where the treasures from her many travels were beautifully displayed. Her family was the center of her life and she embraced each new family member and generation with great interest and enthusiasm, especially delighting in activities and trips with her grandchildren, and experiencing the special joy of seeing each one of her 9 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her second daughter, Kristin (1942-1944), her mother, Florence Ethington (1890-1968), her grandson, Brett Bakke (1967-2004), and her husband of 64 years, Hans Lund (1914-2006). She is survived by 4 daughters and 2 sons-in-law:  Karen Lund and her husband, John DeMoss of Houston, TX; Judith Wood of Seattle, WA; Jani Bakke of Fort Washington, MD, and Sally Lund and her husband, Donald Campbell, of Issaquah, WA; 6 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

No funeral service is planned, but a family gathering will be held later to celebrate her life. Contributions in Dorthyan Lund’s memory may be made to the Legacy Tree Program, Seattle Parks Foundation (860 Terry Ave N, #231; Seattle, WA 98109 or online at <seattleparksfoundation.org>).

The family is extremely grateful to Viorica (Vivian) Pop and her staff at Pine Lake Adult Family Home in Sammamish, WA, not only for the loving care that Dorthyan received, but also for the generous support and guidance that Vivian gave to us.  We also thank Valer Marin Pop, Daniela (Dana) Sancraian and the rest of the Pop family, the residents, and, especially, her devoted caregivers, Tatiana (Tania) Chirica and Zinaida (Zena) Palanchuk, for their patience and kindness.