Liz Litsch

Liz Litsch, aged 67, passed away at her home in Gig Harbor, Washington, on
September 16th, 2015, from Pancreatic Cancer. She was born April 16th,
1948, in Bremerton, to Cecil and Beryl Mauck. She grew up in Port Orchard
on an 11 acre farm. Liz was preceded in death by her brother Terry, father
Cecil, mother Beryl, and her husband, Charlie. She is survived by her two
children William and Diana.

At the age of 14 she bought her first horse, Sparkle. Shortly thereafter
she got her next horse, Buttermilk, and bred her to get her third and fourth
horses, Nike and Topper, which would not be her last horses. She was
involved in 4-H where she showed her horses. Hardly a day passed in her
life when she was not around horses. She loved raising and caring for
horses.

Liz graduated from South Kitsap High School in 1966. Later she got an
associate's degree from Olympic College. After dating for a couple years,
she married Charles W. Litsch on April 10th, 1971. They bought a
fixer-upper in Gig Harbor. They loved the house and the land and both of
them lived there until their deaths.

Their first child, William W. Litsch, was born February 4, 1977, followed by
their daughter Diana D. Litsch on March 17, 1980. Liz spent her time
raising her children and making their house into a home. Her grandfather
was a master gardener and a farmer and she took what she learned from his
experience to create a beautiful home. She spent most of her time working
in her yard or garden.

She began working for the Peninsula School District around 1985, which is
when she started working as a para-educator. She worked as a para-educator
for 30 years. This is where she demonstrated how patient, gentle, and
persistent she was.

Liz loved the water and loved to swim. She competed as a child and always
found a way to be in the water. She started teaching swim lessons at the
Pearl St. YMCA where she enrolled both her children in their first swim
lessons. She imparted her great passion for swimming to both of her
children who would also spend much of their time in the water and eventually
join their High School's swim teams.

Around the same time as she began working as a para-educator for the
Peninsula School District she also started as an instructor and supervisor
at the Peninsula Pool. Through the happy coincidence of teaching her
daughter the rudiments of diving, befriending the high school diving coach
at the time, and a soon to be vacated diving coach position she became the
PHS diving coach. She learned as she went and soon fell in love with the
sport, the kids, and coaching.

Through her 30 years of dedication and passion she touched the lives of many
people as a diving coach for three different communities. She was always
learning and wanting to grow as a coach. She started coaching with Pacific
Northwest Diving in 1990. This broadened her experience and helped her to
achieve a higher proficiency level in her coaching. She began coaching the
Gig Harbor High School team as well as the Peninsula team in 1991. Almost
every year some of her divers would make it to state and she had many top
three finishers throughout the years. She was also a National High School
All American judge. She was incredibly proud of all her divers. She
developed many lasting relationships with them and followed the progress of
their lives as others follow family.

Even after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer she continued to coach
diving, teach swim lessons, and work as a para-educator. She only stopped
when she became too weak to do so. When not working she spent most of her
time with her children or in her beautiful garden. She looked forward to
hiking with her daughter and visits from her son. She was a devoted and
loving mother who will be sorely missed by her children, family, and
friends.

As a dedicated coach and educator she taught us how to be better people and
how to overcome our fears. As a horsewoman she taught us a compassion for
animals, how to develop bonds and communicate without words. As a devoted
mother she taught us how to give and how to love, how loving means feeling the
joys and the sorrows experienced by others as if they were our own. As an avid
gardener she taught us patience, instilled in us an appreciation of nature, and
showed us the rewards of hard work. Though she is gone and though she WAS
these things she IS still dearly loved and that will live on for as long as we have
memories of her.

We love you mom