Longtime League member Elisabeth (Betty) Tabbutt passed from among us on August 4, 2022. She had a long life rich in experience, impact, and leadership within our community. Her family moved to Olympia when her husband, Fred, became a faculty member at The Evergreen State College when it opened in 1967.
Betty had a strong background in science and was deeply concerned about a variety of environmental issues. She represented the LWVWA on the Hanford Advisory Board for many years and was actively involved in many solid waste, nuclear waste, and Superfund issues. She also taught classes on environmental concerns at Evergreen.
Betty was a driving force on the statewide League’s four-year study of forest issues (Washington’s Dynamic Forests, available in the Studies & Reports section of the LWVWA website). She was project manager of the state League’s study committee on groundwater and an active member of the League’s water study committee in 2008.
Betty served as president of the Thurston County League from 1977 to 1979 and as co-president with Maria Peeler from 2001 to 2003. She described the Thurston County League’s achievements during the 1970s in a booklet titled “Decade Stories: The First Five Decades of Helping Democracy Work in Our Community, State, and Nation, 1961-2011,” available on the Thurston County League website.
She demonstrated a strong commitment to maintaining family ties and support and was very proud of her four children and their families. Betty was a wonderful friend to many, an amazing leader, and an inspiration to all who knew her.
