Susan Handley, Anglophile, active volunteer

It took members at the Boeing Britannia Club a year to figure out that one of their board members was ineligible to serve because she was not from the United Kingdom — but the club changed its rules rather than lose the valued services of Susan Morgan Handley.

Mrs. Handley, 59, of Bellevue, died last Wednesday (Sept. 4) after a yearlong battle with cancer. A tireless community volunteer and environmental advocate, Mrs. Handley was also a huge fan of England, the native country of her husband, Derek. She visited England at least 30 times, often exploring cathedrals and other places of historical interest while he worked for Boeing.

Son Chris Handley said he was attending university in Durham, England, when his mom visited and decided to stay alone at a guest room inside a castle dungeon. "She still says she saw a ghost in Durham," said Chris Handley.

Mrs. Handley grew up in Tacoma and attended the Annie Wright Seminary. She graduated from Willamette University in Salem, Ore., then gained her teaching credentials from the University of Washington.

She taught at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle for two years before raising her two children. After moving to Bellevue in 1971, she served both as a board member and as president of Eastside Mental Health.

In the mid-1980s, she was appointed by Gov. John Spellman to the Council for Voluntary Action, a group dedicated to rallying volunteers for nonprofit organizations. Gov. Booth Gardner later reappointed her to the position.

As her children grew older, Mrs. Handley returned to the work force at age 40. She became a fund-raiser for a hospice and then monitored water quality for a local agency. She then spent five years as a regional educator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency until her retirement in 1998.

She continued to volunteer for many groups, including the Women's University Club, the Bellevue Botanical Society and the Key Peninsula-Gig Harbor Islands Watershed Council.

"She was always very interested in keeping active in the community and making a difference," said Chris Handley.

Her family's second home on the Key Peninsula helped her gain a keen appreciation for the natural environment, her husband said.

"She was always very sensitive about beaches, tidal protection and that sort of thing," said Derek Handley.

Mrs. Handley was also an avid gardener, genealogist and quilt-maker.

Besides her husband and son, she is survived by her daughter-in-law, Aisling Harrison, of Seattle; daughter Elizabeth Grose and her husband, Jeffrey Grose, of Portland; sister Elizabeth Heath of Tacoma; brother Charles Morgan and his wife, Melissa, of Key Peninsula; a grandchild; a nephew; and three nieces.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Chapel of the Annie Wright School, 817 Tacoma Ave. N, Tacoma. A reception will follow in the school's great hall.

The family requests remembrances be sent to Longbranch Community Church; c/o Helen Fravel, treasurer; P.O. Box 266; Lakebay, WA 98349.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639.