Carole Rae (Hansen) Pritchett

Funeral services for Carole Rae (Hansen) Pritchett will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 808 S. Magnolia Street in Ellensburg with burial to follow at High Valley Cemetery.  Viewing will be one hour prior to the funeral in the Relief Society Room and a reception will follow the committal in the multipurpose room.  Mrs. Pritchett passed away on Sunday, October 20, 2019 at the Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle at the age of 80.

Carole was born on November 25, 1938 in Ellensburg to George Andrew & Florence Frances (Gibson) Hansen. The flaxen-haired, blue-eyed Carole grew up in Ellensburg and graduated from Ellensburg High School. She met Robert Pritchett on a blind date and the couple married soon after on August 5, 1955 in Ellensburg. She then lived in various places in Washington and Alaska, all while raising five living children and loving her husband.

Carole attended Bellevue Community College, graduating from Central Washington University and working first as a “Candy Striper”, then later as a traveling Registered Nurse for the States of Washington and Alaska. Like her parents before her, she took care of various other children alongside her own through the foster care systems of the State of Washington and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

While living in Ellensburg with her husband, Carole participated heavily in providing and distributing food with the local food bank system in the Valley. Along with her brothers, she discovered the gospel of Jesus Christ and helped grow the Ellensburg branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She loved serving in various positions in the church wherever she lived and quietly touched the lives of many in a positive manner.

Carole loved classical music and playing her baby grand piano and later in life, spent a lot of time doing genealogical research, culminating in completing an official full-time genealogical mission for the Lord in the Kittitas Valley. She also frequented the LDS temples in Seattle and Richland.

Carole suffered from various physical maladies over time, miraculously recovering, with the latest being cancer of the upper soft tissues, which quickly ended her mortal life. She said it was time to move on. Always steadfast in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, she has been a blessing and a miracle to many.

Carole is survived by her brothers William Drury "Bill" (Mary Ellen Moore) Hansen and Paul George Hansen; her sons Robert Leigh (Thelma Torres Flores) Pritchett, John Howard (Ellen May Candland) Pritchett, George Andrew (Shari Chase) Pritchett, Thomas Edward (Pamela Dee Roberts) Pritchett and daughter, Mary Elizabeth (Antwoin Lamont Smith) Pritchett and lots of grandchildren.  She was preceded in death by her parents; sister Frances Lorraine Hansen; brothers Delbert Wayne Gibson and Ted Luther Hansen; son James Anthony Pritchett and her husband Robert Moberly Pritchett.

Memorial contributions in Carole’s honor are suggested to your choice of one of the many philanthropical missions of the LDS Church, www.ldsphilanthropies.org/in-memoriam

Steward & Williams Funeral Home and Crematory of Ellensburg has been entrusted with caring for Carole’s family.  Online condolences may be left at www.steward-williams.com