Louise DeGuise Prewitt

Louise DeGuise Prewitt passed away peacefully on Christmas Day morning 2014 at Providence Hospital in Everett, Wash., following a brief illness. She was surrounded by her loving family.

Louise was born to Adrienne and Charles Greenidge in Utica, N.Y., April 25, 1937. After spending her early childhood in upstate New York, she and her mother moved to the Pacific Northwest to be close to family. Her father was an architect (which piqued her early interest in design and systems, and she used that innate talent for everything from building a home, throwing a dinner party or forming a new community organization), and her mother taught physics and calculus at Seattle Central Community College.

Louise attended schools in Seattle and Michigan, and in 1964, she married Bob Grant. She worked the night shift in the Emergency Room of Seattle’s Virginia Mason Hospital as an X-ray technician so she could tend to her children during the day. Living in Issaquah at the time, Louise was on the lookout for a weekend place on Whidbey Island — what she referred to as a “sweeper” — a place you could just sweep out. The Grants bought a house on Langley’s Edgecliff Drive in 1969, where Louise created a warm and inviting gathering place that was also home to a variety of dogs, cats, horses, chickens, rabbits and llamas.

Louise was the hostess with the mostest, whether entertaining a small group of gal pals or dozens of friends and neighbors during a summer soiree at her beautiful home overlooking Saratoga Passage. She doted on her family and friends, and all were welcome. After Bob Grant passed away in 1989, Louise continued to make her home on Edgecliff Drive and married Dan Prewitt in 1992.

Louise was an outdoors person, loving to schuss down the slopes at Ski Acres or spend sunny weekends in the San Juan Islands. While pregnant with Christy, she spent six weeks on horseback in the outback of Patagonia, South America. The Grants also spent a considerable amount of time in mining camps in the Cascade Mountains, and, true to form, Louise still managed to cook her famous feasts even over open fires and propane stoves. Throughout the years, she enjoyed cheering on her beloved sports teams, which included the Huskies, Ducks, Mariners and Seahawks.

During her 45 years on the island, Louise helped shape Langley and the community into what it is today. Her list of activities and accomplishments is as expansive as her spirit of generosity: South Whidbey Co-Op Preschool founding member; South Whidbey Community School co-founder; Island Theatre (directed “Barefoot in the Park”); South Whidbey Senior Center Meals on Wheels volunteer; Island County Fair Board of Directors; Good Cheer Board of Directors (where she got her start volunteering for the Food Bank); League of Women Voters of South Whidbey (former president); Langley Chapter of PEO (former president); Langley United Methodist Church member.

On the professional front, Louise’s big heart was also a key component. She served with the American Red Cross 1982-1999 as family services officer and government liaison, responding to major disasters in the United States (Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Oklahoma City and numerous other locations) and its trust territories of Guam, Samoa, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

More recently, she and her husband Dan traveled the world with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to Rwanda, Kuwait, Tanzania, Russia, Bangladesh and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Louise spent a lifetime in service to her family, friends, community and people in need all around the globe. She gave her entire heart to those she loved and leaves behind a legacy of selfless compassion and commitment and world that is so much richer because of her having lived.

Daughter Christy summed up how much her mother was beloved on Whidbey Island this way: “If everyone who loved my mom rushed toward the ferry all at once, the island would tip.”

Louise leaves behind her husband, Dan Prewitt; children, Kurt Grant, Christy Grant and Barbara Vincent; stepchildren, Kim Eckhoff and Robert Grant; and grandchildren, Kiley Grant, Shayna Grant, Avery Grant, Elizabeth Grant, Colin Eckhoff and Trevor Eckhoff.

The family extends a heartfelt thanks to the ICU staff at Providence Hospital, who displayed such professionalism and kindness as they cared for Louise.

A celebration of Louise’s life will be held in the springtime in Langley — when the flowers are in bloom, eagles are soaring on high and the gray whales are back to their feeding grounds in Saratoga Passage.

Remembrances may be made in her name to Good Cheer at www.goodcheer.org or P.O. Box 144, Langley, WA 98260.