Elizabeth Tabbutt

1933 - 2022

Elizabeth Tabbutt
September 2, 1933 - August 4, 2022
Olympia, Washington - Elizabeth Craig Tabbutt (September 2, 1933 â€" August 4, 2022). Elizabeth "Betty" was born at Women's Hospital of Washington DC and grew up on Barnaby Street in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her brother, Norman.
Betty attended Woodrow Wilson High School and went on to graduate from Oberlin College in 1955 with a zoology major. She attended graduate school at Radcliff College in Cambridge and completed a Masters in medical sciences. Betty met her brother's roommate, Frederick Dean Tabbutt, a graduate student at Harvard, and they were married in 1956 in the Washington Cathedral. A year later Betty and Fred drove across the country to Portland, Oregon where Fred began his career teaching at Reed College while Betty worked as a microbiology researcher at the Oregon Health Sciences University.
Betty and Fred had four children, Sarah (1959), Kenneth Dean (1960), Mark Norman (1964) and Joanna (1969). Together, the family embraced a lifetime of projects and adventures. Living in a summer tent camp in the woods near Cougar, Washington they built a one room cabin in 1969 that was designed by Betty. Inspired by the cabin, Betty created the initial design and models for their new home in Olympia in 1971. Additional family ventures included cross country car camping trips, exploring National Parks in the West, regular weekend camping trips to the Coast and the Peninsula and three years abroad in England.
Betty was devoted to environmental protection. She served on numerous environmental advisory boards for the Washington Department of Ecology and the U. S. EPA. Betty worked as a lobbyist and board member for the League of Women Voters and the Washington Environmental Council. Betty was appointed to the Washington Nuclear Waste Advisory Committee and the Hanford Advisory Board by Governors Lowry and Gardener. She served the Girl Scouts as a troop leader and board member. Betty also served as an adjunct faculty member for Evergreen for 13 years teaching environmental policy in the Masters of Environmental Studies program
Betty was also an avid gardener and enjoyed knitting and sewing. In her later years, she was devoted to her grandchildren, walked every day â€" rain or shine, and savored a glass of wine with friends and family.
Betty is predeceased by her husband, Fred and her brother, Norman Craig. She is survived by her four children: Sarah (Ronn Tanel), Ken (Veena), Mark (Denise) and Joanna (Dan Lehmann) and grandchildren: Kevin (Addy), Mia (Ethan), Nick, Sam, Meghan, Owen, Lauren, Abby, Ben, Brea, Chloe, Sophie and Sarah.
A memorial service will take place in the Longhouse at The Evergreen State College on September 10th at 3:00.