Coni Fitch, longtime biker who left "huge footprint," dies at 58

When she began working as a flight attendant for United Airlines, Coni R.S. Fitch wrote a letter to her parents, telling them she loved them, in case her plane crashed.

When her daughter, Cirstan, was born, Coni Fitch rewrote the letter to her daughter, and then wrote it again to her family when she took up long-distance motorcycle riding.

Her family found the letter tucked in the bottom of a home safe, having no idea that she'd written it. The letter will be read at her memorial service Thursday.

Mrs. Fitch, 58, died Sept. 22 after a yearlong battle with appendix cancer.

She retired from United Airlines in 2005 after 36 years of service.

One of the last things she was able to do, said her husband, Graham, was attend Cirstan's graduation from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Mrs. Fitch, who was born in Spokane on July 11, 1949, developed her passion for motorcycles when she was 18 and couldn't afford a car.

"Everyone marveled at her," said Graham Fitch. "She owned 20 motorcycles, and she got me into motorcycle riding. The neighbors were in awe: the two of us, white-collar yuppies with a million-dollar home on the top of Clyde Hill."

For her 50th birthday, Graham Fitch bought his wife a Mercedes convertible, which she loved. But when she sold it six years later it had just 7,000 miles on it; her BMW motorcycle, purchased the same month, had 135,000 miles.

"Whenever the sun came out, she would jump on her motorcycle," he said.

The family would often take motorcycle trips, whether riding the islands of Hawaii or the roads of California. "I always felt safe on the back of her bike," Cirstan said.

Longtime friend Kathy Taggares would tell Coni that she was unique.

"She was the best athlete and the most intelligent of my friends," she said. "I don't know anyone who excelled at so many things she excelled in. She was loving, warm and kind and left a huge footprint on this Earth in a short time."

Mrs. Fitch had many trophies for her motorcycle exploits and was one of the few bikers who completed the 11,000-mile North American ride, going through every one of the lower 48 states.

He husband said she never had an accident.

Mrs. Fitch also was a member of the Seattle Yacht Club, the Bellevue Athletic Club, the Swedish Hospital Summit Club, the Sun Valley Ski Club and the Seattle Tennis Club.

In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Fitch is survived by her brother, Denzil, from Montana; sister Sherry, from Kirkland; and mother Gladys, in Spokane.

The memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday at the Seattle Tennis Club, 922 McGilvra Blvd. in Seattle. Her friends and family plan to drape her motorcycle with a saddle of white roses at the service.

The family asks that remembrances be made to Swedish Hospital Medical Center, 747 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98114.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com