Alfred Christian Lauritsen

A celebration of the life of Alfred Christian Lauritsen will be held at 1 p.m. on Aug. 6 on Big Mountain near the fishpond under Chair 1. Mr. Lauritsen passed away on Jan. 22, 2005 at the age of 80.

He was born at Swedish Hospital in Seattle on November 8, 1924, the son of Christian and Edith Matsen Lauritsen. immigrants from Denmark in 1898. Raised in the University District of Seattle, he attended University Heights Grade School, John Marshall Junior High and Roosevelt High School, where he was Vice President of the student body in his senior year, on the National Honor Society and lettered in track and basketball.

Upon high school graduation in 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and entered training in the Army Air Corps as a bombardier. After graduation from the cadet program in the spring of 1944, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and was assigned to B-24 Liberator bombers. He was discharged in early 1946 with the rank of Captain.

Mr. Lauritsen entered the University of Washington in the School of Forestry, and graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forest Products. After a few years in the hardwood lumber wholesale business, he went to work for Reichhold Chemicals, Inc., one of the major producers of synthetic resin adhesives for the plywood and particleboard industry in the Pacific Northwest. In 1960 he was transferred to Kalispell to head up new product operations to serve the forest products industry in the Inland Empire and Western Montana. In 1980 he relocated to St. Helens, Ore. to work with Reichhold's natural gas exploration division and was in charge of all of their land leasing operations and acquisitions of drilling locations. When all the gas production and mineral leases were sold to Arco in 1985, he retired back to Seattle. In 1999, he and his wife, Rosalba, moved to Sequim, Washington.

Mr. Lauritsen was a lifetime skier, having started on Mt. Ranier in 1936. In the early 1950s he took the Pacific Northwest Skiing Association Instructor's test, and taught skiing on weekends at Snoqualmie and Steven's Pass until 1959.

He was also an avid racquetball player, and was ranked in the top 10 in the United States in the 50 and over age group in the late 1970s.

Mr. Lauritsen was a member of the Seattle Tennis Club, Sunland Golf Club and Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Marilyn Davis Lauritsen in 1976, and his daughter, Christi Lauritsen Burz, in 2002. He is now survived by his wife, Rosalba and his daughters, Marta Lauritsen of Lakebay, Washington, and Jana Lauritsen Sanchez, of San Diego, California, along with four grandchildren.

During his life, Mr. Lauritsen touched a great many people with his kindness and gentle, knowing spirit. He will be greatly missed, and we feel lucky to have known him.