Louise Mauk

Lou Mauk passed away on September 27, 2022 at St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor. Her sudden illness caught her family by complete surprise, as she was very health conscious, taking vitamins and supplements every day, having regular check-ups and even measuring her own blood pressure and recording the results every morning before having her first cup of coffee! But an unlucky combination of unforeseen health complications resulted in her not being able to recover, so after a lengthy hospital stay, she died just days short of her 88th birthday.

Lou was born on October 9, 1934 in Seattle to Lenore (Gary) and Dave Taggart. After her parents divorced, she spent her youth living at times with each of them in various places, such as Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington. She visited Acapulco for awhile as well! At seventeen, while living in Denver with her mother and her husband, she went skiing, only to have the ski lift stall and leave her with the other skiers sitting, suspended in the air, waiting for the lift to start moving again. Seeing others jump off into the deep snow below, she decided to do the same. Instead of a soft landing though, she landed on some rock that was covered by a sheet of snow, and broke her back!

While she was recuperating in a body cast, her step-father unexpectedly brought home a young man from work to meet her. That blind date evolved into a marriage that lasted from April of 1953 until Bob passed in December of 2019. Together they had three children, David, Larry and Susan. Larry passed in June of 1993, leaving as Lou’s survivors Dave and Sue, seven grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and a sister.

Bob and Lou moved their family from Colorado to Washington State in 1967, settling in Issaquah for many years until finally moving to the Key Peninsula in 1993 upon Bob’s retirement. During her life, Lou had several hobbies, painting with oil and acrylic, working on stained glass projects, and crafting together intricate miniatures. She made many beautiful objects, for example a general store, a green house, an old-fashioned seamstress shop and she even installed a miniature IT workplace inside a computer screen casing! Having won prizes with her miniatures, she also taught others how to work with FEMO and create their own pieces.

As do others, Lou went through some trials and tribulations during her life, but she never let these get her down, no matter how challenging. She always had a great attitude!

Lou and Bob were active in their church, holding bible study groups every week for years at their home, until Bob’s fight with dementia became too challenging. Lou cared for him for years during his decline, struggling with the decision to finally place him in a care facility for the last few months of his life. After he passed, she stayed busy working around their home, doing yard work and hosting regular card games with her friends. During the COVID-19 pandemic she quarantined herself at home while maintaining contact with her friends, and attended church on-line.

Lou was well-liked by everyone she met. She had friendly conversations with strangers in the aisles at grocery stores, stayed in contact with her friends and neighbors in the community where she lived, played cards regularly for years, and tried to help whenever she was asked. She is deeply missed by her friends and family. Private family services have been held.

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