Elaine Loftus, 86

Elaine K Loftus was born in Chicago (Elmhurst), IL on October 24, 1931.  She passed away on February 4, 2018 in Kennewick, WA.  Services will be held Monday Feb 12 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Kennewick with a Rosary at 10:00 am, Funeral Mass at 11:00 am and reception following in the church hall.

Elaine lived in Washington DC, Denver, CO and Tucumcari, NM before her family moved to Coulee Dam in 1941 where her father was an accountant on the dam project.  She graduated from high school in Coulee Dam in 1950 and attended WSU before moving to Richland, WA to work for General Electric in support of the Hanford project.

 In 1951, she met Pat Loftus and they were married in 1952.  Together they started a contracting business, Loftus, Inc., with Elaine managing the office and Pat working the job sites.  They worked in Montana, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, completing projects involving parks, golf courses, schools, highway, Army, Airforce and Bureau of Reclamation projects until retiring in 1992.  Their four children grew up working in the family business. 

Busy with children and business, Elaine still managed to keep family life fun with a large circle of friends and lots of activities, many centered on boating.  Every member of the family learned to water ski in the 1960’s behind their first boat, the Pink Panther.  Elaine became an accomplished boater, skilled in navigation and vessel operations. She and Pat spent every summer boating along the British Columbia coast until 2015 when her health declined.

Elaine is survived by her husband of 65 years, Pat Loftus; four children Pat (Debbie) Loftus, Shannon Crowell, Tom Loftus, Vince (Jill) Loftus, 14 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

Elaine was preceded in death by her parents and stepfather, T. Dwight Kelley, Helen Kelley McCue and Sam McCue, her sister, Keo Sorgenfrei and by an infant child, Timothy Loftus.