Connie Wetzel LeRoss lost her battle with breast cancer on Tuesday, July 12, 2010 after valiantly fighting the disease for more than 10 years.

Born in Bremerton on Sept. 7, 1944, Connie grew up in the Yakima area where she graduated from Eisenhower High School and attended Yakima Valley College.

In October 1967 she married her husband of 42 years, Lester LeRoss, also of Yakima.

They initially lived in Bellevue before transferring in 1973 to the Portland, Ore. area where they settled in Lake Oswego.

Connie was very active in her church there, Our Savior’s Lutheran, serving on a number of committees. In 1982 the family relocated to Redmond. Connie continued to be actively involved in both her church, Sammamish Hills Lutheran as well as other philanthropic organizations such as Assistance League and Habitat for Humanity. Most recently, Connie and her husband shared time between their home on Whidbey Island and condo in downtown Seattle.

Although Connie at times held positions in the nine-to-five world, she always viewed her first priority as that of being wife, mother and grandmother. She excelled in both environments. Her sense of humor was legendary. She will always be remembered for the April Fools’ jokes she perpetrated on her children and for the joy she found in planning family outings and most particularly, any and all activities involving her grandchildren.

She also loved to travel. Her first trip to Europe followed her high school graduation as a member of an American Heritage group. That first trip led to a whole host of ensuing adventures throughout the United States, to Scandinavia, Europe and Ports of Call around the Mediterranean; many of these trips taken in spite of her disease.

She was a person of strength, courage, character, intelligence and inner beauty. By retaining her positive disposition and zest for living throughout her life while all the while dealing with the daunting challenges her cancer presented, she served as a beacon of hope, strength and courage for all those who knew her.

Connie is survived by her husband; three children, Teresa Serex of Issaquah, Brad LeRoss of Snoqualmie and Michelle Freckleton of Steamboat Springs, Colo.; seven grandchildren, Samantha, Dane, Rune, Ray, Isabella, Karl Brody and Alexandra; her mother and father, Don and Vi Wetzel of Yakima; three siblings, Sherry Nelson, Don and Doug Wetzel, also of Yakima; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.