Family and friends will gather November 1 in West Seattle for a casual meetup to remember Chris Witwer, and are sharing this remembrance with the community now:

Former West Seattle resident Chris S. Witwer, CIP (56), aka Chris the Writer, as she loved to be known, shrugged off the confines of her failing body after a long battle with cancer on Dec. 3, 2024. She passed peacefully in her sleep at her home in Rockville, MD, held in the arms of her wife, with her beloved kitty Stella in her lap. She is now free to ride the wind & waves she always loved alongside the beloved whales, dolphins, orcas, & seals she adored photographing at any opportunity.

Devastatingly, Chris has left behind her shattered but endlessly grateful wife of 11 years & love of 22 ½ years, or 8193 days & forever, Shiloh Blue (formerly known as L. A. Vess). Chris was also forced to say goodbye to her two precious fur babies, Stella & Molly. Chris is also survived by her parents, John & Joyce Witwer, & sister Kathy. She is preceded in death by her sister Cindy, paternal grandparents Lee & Polly Witwer, whom she cherished, & maternal grandmother Ruth Granade. Along the way, she also lost three other beloved fur babies: her childhood kitty Boots, her boon companion Mozart, & her sweet baby Dolce.

Chris enjoyed a 20+ year storied career in medical research human subjects protection that spanned across the country, including Quorum Review IRB (now Advarra) & the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. She was also proud to serve many years on the CIP Council of PRIM&R before proudly being named co-chair in 2023. Chris gathered an enormous community of colleagues, friends & chosen family from all over the world; too many to name. Still, her wife wishes to give special thanks locally in Seattle to Barbie, for her boundless love & joy, to Jo, Marianne, & Linda for helping to ensure Chris was cared for in the best possible ways imaginable in her last months, & to Jill, for taking care of Chris’s favorite person ever besides her wife, & making sure she is happy & thriving.

More than just a beloved wife & amazing colleague, Chris was also a beautiful piano player, a singer, previously with the Austin Tapestry Singers, & she was passionate about photography, especially of beautiful landscapes, wild beaches, & magnificent marine life. Chris also loved to travel whenever she could – especially if art museums were involved – or just pick a direction nearby to go adventuring. You could also find her volunteering for causes she believed in whenever she had the chance, including several years with Seattle’s Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network (SSMMSN). Above all things, however, Chris loved to write, including for the Wallyhood blog for several years. Her favorite author, Eudora Welty, greatly inspired her, especially the short story “A Worn Path.” In addition to penning numerous articles & essays over the years, Chris published two bucket list books in the last year of her life: A Deafening Absence, a collection of short stories, & Rubbings, a travelogue about backpacking through Europe before the advent of cellphones & the Internet. The best way to honor her memory is to read them; they are available through her Amazon author page. Particularly while enjoying an Old Fashioned if you imbibe, or a nice slice of cake, as she was very fond of both.

As those who knew Chris would likely understand, she wanted no fanfare or fuss at her passing. She was sent back to stardust at a simple cremation with her loving wife as witness. Such a good, honest, & genuinely kind soul should have had a forever of tomorrows, but instead, can now only hope to be remembered for the incredible human being she was, the devoted & caring wife she was, & the loyal & kind friend she was. She made lasting impacts, great & small, on so many, personally & professionally. She lives on in those beautiful ripples she sent out into the world, making it a more wonderful place for every moment she was in it, & for long after she is gone.

Anyone who might wish to remember Chris at one of her favorite places, Alki Beach, with one of her very favorite guilty pleasures, tacos from Marination Ma Kai, please feel free to meet up there with her wife, Shiloh – who recently moved back to their beloved West Seattle at the gentle urging of her wife’s last wishes, at 1660 Harbor Ave SW, Seattle, on November 1st, 2025 from 2 PM to 3 PM.

Full memorial can be read at hiltonfh.com/december. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to SealSitters.org or HappyWhale.com.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)