Edmonds Councilmember Peggy Pritchard Olson dies at 59

Edmonds City Councilwoman Peggy Pritchard Olson voted last Tuesday night to transfer the Edmonds Fire Department to the control of a regional fire district. In the late stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, Mrs. Olson, 59, voted with an electronic voice machine and had a caregiver read aloud the reasons for her vote.

"Peggy was all about public service. That's what was important to her," said Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson. "Though her body was failing, her mind was so active. She refused to stop coming to council meetings. She was the bravest woman I ever met."

Mrs. Olson died Monday morning at her home in Edmonds.

She was the daughter of Joel Pritchard, the late Republican state legislator, congressman and lieutenant governor.

In an interview last year, she said she grew up in an atmosphere in which politicians such as her father and his friend, former Gov. Dan Evans, were "the good guys. They weren't crooked. They weren't partisan. They believed they were elected to get work done."

She was a longtime volunteer for the Friends of the Edmonds Library and worked to have it made a part of the Sno-Isle Regional Library system. She was also a founding member of the Edmonds Tea Party, which rallied the city against locating the Brightwater sewage-treatment facility on the Edmonds waterfront.

"She was one of the great civic leaders of Edmonds," said D.J. Wilson, Edmonds City Council president. "She helped save the library, she kept Brightwater out of Edmonds. If you go down the list of big issues ... she was involved in them all."

Mrs. Olson was first elected to the City Council in 2003. She ran unopposed for a second term in 2007.

When she was diagnosed with ALS, on her 58th birthday, Mrs. Olson resolved to raise public awareness and money to combat the disease. Her friends created "Team Peggy" and raised almost $30,000 in her name. Mrs. Olson also learned there was no support group for ALS patients in Snohomish County and helped establish one at Stevens Hospital in Edmonds.

A friend, Merrilyn Alkire, said Mrs. Olson "was the type of person who wanted to leave the world a better place. It's a tribute to her father, and also to her, that she always wanted to do the right thing."

Mrs. Olson is survived by her husband, Norm Olson; his daughters, Nikki Langenbach, of Everett, and Denise Cohnheim, of Brier; a granddaughter, Madison; her brother, Frank Pritchard, of Yakima; and sisters Anne Crawford, of Alpharetta, Ga.; and Jeannie Fullerton, of Bainbridge Island.

The Edmonds City Council will hold a memorial at 7 p.m. next Tuesday at the Public Safety Complex, 250 Fifth Ave. N. Family arrangements are being finalized.

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com