Wanda Jean Fitterer

Wanda is survived by her sisters, Donna Dee Thompson of Portland, Ore. and Betty Joan Hurd of Salem, Ore., children Mark Lee Fitterer (Laurie), Matthew Neal Fitterer (Mary), Brenda Kay Fitterer (Dick Beckham), and son-in-law Michael Paul Donald. She is also survived by 8 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren, and many other cherished friends and family. She is preceded in death by her parents, Glen Fredrick and Ada Eileen (Mulkey) Hurd, husband Lucas Fitterer, siblings Ellen Eileen Townsend, Don Gary Hurd, and Darrell Lee Hurd, and daughters Rebecca (Becky) Lynn Donald and Beth Ann Fitterer.

Wanda was born on July 24, 1929 in York, NE and spent her childhood in Goodland, KS during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. In 1945, she moved with her family to Oregon, where she graduated from Oregon City High School in 1946. She completed nursing school at Oregon Health & Science University (then University of Oregon) in 1951.

While attending nursing school she met Lucas “Luke” Fitterer through friends and they began dating. Shortly after, he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan with the Air Force during the Korean War. Wanda and Luke wrote regular letters to each other and were occasionally able to meet in San Francisco for short visits. Upon his return they married on April 11, 1953 in Portland, Ore. By 1959 they welcomed five children and raised them in their Alameda home, which later became the hub for holidays and gatherings for generations of the Fitterer family.

Wanda often remarked that becoming a nurse was her greatest life accomplishment. She worked at Doernbecher Children's Hospital before serving as a nursing instructor at Portland Community College, beginning in 1967 until her retirement in 1990. She was very creative and made elaborate and humorous nursing demonstrations for her classes. She was also an excellent seamstress, painter, crafter, and gardener.

A viewing is scheduled for November 5, 2022 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, followed by a funeral and reception on November 6, 2022 at 12:00pm at Zeller’s Chapel of the Roses. A livestream of the service can be found below by clicking "Join Livestream". In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Wanda’s memory to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. The family would like to thank Wanda’s medical team at Legacy Emanuel Hospital for their care and support.