Catherine Anne Lauritsen

Catherine Anne Lauritsen, neé Grollman, passed away on Jan. 18, 2025 at the age of 86 at Hospice Spokane.

She was born Dec. 6, 1938, in Baltimore, Md., the daughter of Dr. Arthur Grollman and Anna Costello Grollman. When she was 6 years old, the family moved to Dallas, Texas, where her father was a research doctor at the University of Texas Medical School.

She received her bacherlor of arts from University of Dallas and her master of arts from SMU. She taught at Inkster High School in Detroit, Mich., and then went on to University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to get her PhD in modern American history. On graduation she taught at Winona State College in Winona, Minn., now called Winona State University. It was there she met her future husband, Fred Lauritsen.

After their marriage in 1968, they moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where Fred was employed at University of Iowa. It was there that their son, Arthur, was born. Fred moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1969, where Fred worked at EWU. Their daughter Felicia was born in 1971.

They moved to Cheney and lived in the same house for 52 years until her passing.

She is remembered for her dedication to social justice, her love of reading, love for teaching, volunteer work, including at the library and her love of opera and the fine arts, and her dedication to her happy and healthy five grandchildren.

She was one of the founding members of the library group that helped build the new Cheney library that sits across from the grain elevator on First Street.

She is preceded in death by her two siblings, Dr. Arthur Patrick Grollman and Dr. Evelyn Wolff; brother-in-law, Eugene Lauritsen; and sister-in-law, Melinda Gort.

She is survived by Corky (Bev) and Sheldon Lauritsen; son, Arthur (Chiaki); and granddaughters, Anne and Corky; and her daughter Felicia (Richard) Santa Ana and her three grandchildren Carlos, Nicolas, and Emily; and numerous nephews, nieces and cousins.

She passed on her love of the arts, reading, her love of friends, and participation in community life to her children.

The family asks that donations be made to Cheney Friends of the Library, the Cheney Depot Society or Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane.

A Celebration of Life for Catherine Anne Lauritsen will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 at Cheney Episcopal Church.