Bellingham, WA - Patricia "Tish" Anne Bartz passed away at the Silverado Memory Care Community in Bellingham on June 14 due to the effects of dementia.

Tish was born in Fairbanks, Alaska on September 27, 1952, the youngest of three daughters of Mavor and Edith (Davis) Bartz. The family moved "outside" not long after her birth and Tish grew up in Yakima, Washington. She graduated from A C Davis High School in 1970 and later from Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) with a degree in geology. Her college years were the beginning of a lifelong bond with the Bellingham community. She returned to Western later to obtain a second degree in accounting, a choice that led to a job at Lummi Fishing Supplies (LFS), the company from which she retired in 2017.

All her life, Tish was rich in friends who enjoyed her playful spirit and ready sense of humor, from the "Over Thirty Accounting Club" with whom she studied accounting to her co-workers at LFS and finally with the staff at Silverado, with whom she shared her final years. She was always ready with a smile and a laugh, whether she made the joke or was the target. Giving gifts was one of her particular pleasures and she was expert at matching the perfect present with the right person.

Tish supported many causes, particularly those with a focus on the Bellingham community. She relished the annual fundraising Welding Rodeo at Bellingham Technical College and joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization to be matched with her lifelong "little sister" Tsonsera Rhoades. She walked in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, lighting luminaria in support of the cancer community. In the middle of her career at LFS, Tish took a break to pursue an interest in public transit by accepting an accounting position at the Whatcom Transit Authority, but she soon decided to return to LFS and the private sector.

Tish was a woman always in motion with a particular love for riding her bicycle. One of her treasures was the candy apple red vintage bicycle she won in a raffle to support the Pickford Film Center. She enjoyed the outdoors and was a close observer of the wildlife she saw while biking on the trails around Bellingham. At home, she tended a garden full of an eclectic selection of plants and trees, each of them carefully chosen for their color and texture and scent.

When she wasn't adorning her outside spaces, she was scouring yard sales and second hand stores to decorate her home with vintage treasures. Every flat surface had its share of bric a brac and her tableware was an homage to midcentury culture, including a mix and match of advertising plateware and popular patterns.

Tish is survived by her sisters Barbara Bartz of Yakima and Mary Bartz of Seattle, as well as niece Carly Bartz-Overman and great-nephew Jenson Bartz-Overman of Olympia and nephew Colin Bartz-Overman (Julia Flaherty) of New York City. A gathering to remember and celebrate her life will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 4 at her home. Please contact Barbara Bartz at (509)833-9554 or Mary Bartz at (206)816-5834 for details.

Ride like the wind, Tish. You will always be in our hearts.