Obituary: Lotze, Fred Lee
Age 78
LOTZE,
Fred Lee
Passed away at his home on August 12, 2012 after a battle with cancer.
He and his twin brother Ted were born on April 8, 1934 to Harry O. and Jesse (Welch) Lotze in Colville.
He was the grandson of Stevens County pioneers and Onion Creek homesteaders Ernst and Marie (Najork) Lotze.
He attended school at Onion Creek through grade eight and graduated from Northport High School with the class of 1953.
In 1951 Fred’s father was fatally injured in a logging accident and his mother passed away shortly afterwards from a stroke.
Fred and Ted moved in with the Katherine Olmsted and family until they completed high school.
On August 8, 1953 Fred married Cena Lucille Look in Coeur d’Alene, a union that lasted for over 59 years.
They lived the first 18 years of their marriage in his childhood home at Onion Creek.
In 1974 they moved to their current home just outside of Colville.
Fred and Cena enjoyed traveling through Canada, across the southern United States, and spent many winters in Arizona.
Immediately after high school, Fred worked at the Shell Service Station in Northport and the Van Stone Mine on Onion Creek before beginning his lifelong vocation as a logger, purchasing his first truck in the late sixties.
Fred joined his brother Bill in 1972 and formed Lotze Logging, a very successful partnership that lasted for 23 years until their retirement in 1995.
Fred continued to drive logging truck for Katherine Olmstead’s granddaughter, Donna Godes, well into his seventies.
When asked why he was still working he would respond, “It’s easier to go to work than do the honey-do list at home.
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Fred was an active public servant and supporter of public education, serving on both the Onion Creek and Northport School Boards.
In the 1980s Fred was elected to a Fire Commissioner’s position in Stevens County District 3.
He held this position until being appointed county commissioner upon the passing of Stevens County Commissioner Allan Mack in 1996.
Fred served out the remainder of Commissioner Mack’s term and then ran as the Republican candidate for the open position and was re-elected to a four-year term in November of that year.
All three of Fred and Cena’s daughters are college graduates, Debbie and Christy from Washington State and Shelley from Western Washington, validating his and Cena’s commitment to education.
Fred was preceded in death by his parents Harry and Jesse (Welch) Lotze and his twin brother Ted.
He is survived by his wife Cena at the home; brother Bill (Marie) Colville; daughters Debbie Fletcher (Jim), Kent, Christy Graham (Tom), Kettle Falls and Shelley Wood (Mike), Colville; grandchildren Stacie, Jennifer (David), Alex, Jessica, Annalee, Megan, and many nieces and nephews.
He will be greatly missed by his family and the many friends he held in great regard.
Services for Fred Lee Lotze will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 17, 2012 at Colville Community Church with Pastor Todd Rawls presiding.
Burial will follow at Mountain View Park Cemetery in Colville.
If one so wishes, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Spokane.
Please visit the online memorial and sign the guestbook at www.danekasfuneralchapel.com. DANEKAS FUNERAL CHAPEL & CREMATORY, 155 WEST FIRST AVENUE, COLVILLE, WA 99114 has been entrusted with the arrangements.