Elizabeth Schensted

Obituary ELIZABETH (LIZ) MALONEY SCHENSTED June 30, 1929 - June 27, 2011 Growing up in Wapato and Wenatchee in Eastern Washington, Elizabeth (Liz) Schensted fell in love with the sea while visiting Puget Sound relatives. That fascination led her, as a college graduate, to apply for a direct Navy commission during the height of the Korean War. Coincidentally, her college sorority pin at Washington State University was the anchor of Delta Gamma. She was assigned to Charleston, S.C., as a public affairs officer. Three years later she married Warren, an Air Force pilot, who survives her death on June 27, 2011. Facing the prospect of separate assignments, Liz resigned her Navy commission to accompany her husband during his 20-year Air Force career. When Warren retired, Liz resumed her journalistic career, starting in Hawaii with the Windward Press, then as editor at the Mercer Island Reporter, followed by a position as editor-in-chief at Seattle's Argus publications. Within a few years, the romance of the sea called again in the form of a national recreational boating newspaper. First, she served as Northwest Editor and later joined the Soundings staff in Essex, Conn. She was soon appointed Soundings' West Coast Editor with an office in Newport Beach, Calif. (Male friends often hinted she was getting even with her husband for the many separations she had endured, but the two successfully managed a commuter marriage.) When a severe recession hit Southern California five years later, Soundings closed its West Coast news bureau and Liz headed back to Mercer Island to retire. Subsequently, she started two Northwest editions for Southern California recreational boating publishers. She has enjoyed membership in the Society of Professional Journalists, the Washington Press Association, the WSU Alumni Association and the American Association of University Women. She also enjoyed traveling to over thirty foreign countries, playing bridge, reading, and spending time with friends and family. She is preceded in death by her son, Gregory, who lost his battle with cystic fibrosis at age 10, and Patrick, her six-month-old grandson who also had a genetic disorder. She is survived by her husband, Warren, sons David, of Asuncion, Paraguay, and Robert, of Vancouver, Washington. She is also survived by five nephews and daughter-in-law Maria Elena Alcazar-Schensted. Her five grandchildren include Sarah and Elena Schensted, and Sebastian, Carlos and Maria Jose Ugalde-Alcazar. Her great-granddaughter, Valentina, recently celebrated her second birthday. A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 A.M. on July 2, 2011 at Patriot's Landing in Dupont, Washington. Donations may be made to the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: http://www.cff.org/ http://www.cff.org/ Please leave online condolences at www.GaffneyCares.com. Arrangements by Gaffney Funeral Home, 253-572-6003.