Ruth Christine Cottrell died peacefully in her Grayland home on Jan. 15. She was 90 years old. Known to most as Christine (or Aunt Chris), she was well known to all for her kind heart, warm smile and generous spirit. She and her husband Walter were pillars of the Grayland community for most of their lives.

She was born in Petersburg, Alaska on Aug. 5, 1931. Her father, Henry Hasbrouck, died in a trapping accident in 1932. She and her older sister Mary Ellen were raised by her mother Ellen, a high school teacher. The family moved to Estacada, Oregon in 1941, where Ellen continued to teach. In 1944, they moved to Dinuba, California, where Christine finished secondary school. She attended Whitman College from 1949 to 1953, graduating with a BA in Biology. Her college roommate, Mary Cottrell, introduced her to her future husband Walter Cottrell, a World War II veteran who lived in Grayland. After a summer job in a Pendleton hospital lab, she trained as a medical technologist at Tacoma General Hospital, receiving her certification in 1954.

Christine and Walt were married on Sept. 5, 1954, at the Grayland Community Church. They were inseparable, and lived in the house he built on Gould Road for the rest of their lives. She worked at Grays Harbor Community Hospital while helping Walter on the farm, as well as raising their three children. She was active in Grayland Community Church and South Beach United Presbyterian Church, where she taught Sunday school for decades and was later an elder. She was a dedicated member of the Willapa Harbor Grange, where she served as lecturer and chair of women’s activities. She also staffed the North Cove election site for decades, and volunteered at the South Beach Food Bank until the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. She was a kind soul who always put others before herself. She will be dearly missed.

She is preceded in death by her husband Walter and her sister Mary Ellen. She is survived by her children David (Connie Allen) Cottrell, Francis Cottrell and Anne (Eric) Spencer; by her grandson Quinn; by her brother-in-law Michael (Mary Cottrell) May; and by many nieces, nephews and cousins.

A memorial service is planned for this summer.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation, in Christine’s generous spirit, to the South Beach Food Bank or another local charity.