On September 5, 2023, Loretta Elizabeth Maki quietly passed away in Richland, WA at the age of 93. She was born an only child in 1929 to Chris D’Amico and Viola (Bergman) D’Amico in Chicago, Illinois. The family eventually moved to Yakima in 1943 so Chris could work as a pipefitter during the building of the Hanford Facility. Loretta graduated from Yakima High School in 1947. She met Kent Peterson while working in Moses Lake at the former Larson Air Force Base in 1954. They married in 1955, had 4 daughters and divorced in 1964.

In 1968 she met Charlie Maki while working in Ephrata and they married in 1969.  They settled in Pasco in 1972 and together raised her daughters.  After Charlie died in 1993, Loretta continued working as an administrative assistant at Battelle Northwest until her retirement in 1997.  While still working fulltime, she earned a bachelor’s degree in 1986 at age 56 and a Master of Business Administration degree in 1995 at age 65. She sold her home in early 2023.

Loretta enjoyed travel, and went to the Caribbean, Italy, and France. Inspired by the movies of Shirley Temple, young Loretta became fascinated with tap dancing. She would pretend to tap dance on the tiled fireplace hearth with her leather shoes. Later, as a middle-aged adult, she took tap lessons. Eventually she started line-dancing and at times, the entire family would dance the polka in the kitchen. In her 70s she took singing lessons. At the age of 72, she competed in the Tri-Cities Water Follies singing contest and won first place in her category. In her spare time, she sang at nursing homes to entertain the elderly.

Loretta had an uncanny ability of remembering her children’s birthdays and those of her grandchildren and great grandchildren, sending gifts almost without fail. She was a voracious reader, especially of mystery and thriller novels. She loved cats, Italian cuisine (attributed to her Italian heritage), swimming, and flowers, especially begonias.

She leaves behind 4 daughters:  Holly Hellman (Erik), Ann Jackson (Greg), Julie Miller (Brian), and Laurie VanScotter (Kinson), plus 7 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held October 7, 2023, 1 pm with reception to follow, at Einan’s Events at Sunset located at 915 Bypass Hwy – Building I – in Richland, WA 99352. Her ashes will be interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in High Bridge, Wisconsin. Memorial information and photos, plus space for memories and comments can be viewed at https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/LorettaDamicoMaki/. It is requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be given to Heartlinks Hospice, 204 West 2^nd Street, Grandview WA 98930. Our family is very grateful to them for their expert and exceptionally compassionate care.