Darlene Mae (Little) Lizotte

Darlene was born Darlene Mae Little to Roy and Isabelle Little in Harrah, WA on September 12, 1937. In her early years, Darlene lived and attended school in Harrah, WA. She spoke fondly of her brother Jack taking her out to fish in the Naches River. She said he would put the worm in his mouth before hooking it. I am not sure if he did that to delight her or to see her distasteful look. Either way, she mentioned it often. When she reached high school, she attended St Joseph Academy in Yakima until her family moved to Port Angeles, WA where she graduated from Port Angeles High School. Darlene enlisted in the United States Naval Academy after high school graduation and was part of Company 25 at the Academy in Bainbridge, MD. She had nine weeks to complete the transition from civilian to Navy Wave. Darlene was stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois for the remainder of her service.

At this time, she met Leo Rork, a US Marine, who was also stationed in Illinois. They married shortly after meeting and moved to Westport, IN to raise a family.

In 1971, Darlene moved back to the West Coast to be with her family. In 1974 Darlene met Richard Lizotte and they married in 1978. Darlene helped Richard raise his daughters as well as her own children. Richard and Darlene were very busy and loving life, the summers were always spent on Lake Rimrock camping and water skiing or at the Yakima Speedway watching the races.

When her children were small, she was a homemaker, PTA member and Bible school teacher. As her family grew up, she took pride in various office jobs. But her favorite job was working at the Casinos. She loved to gamble as well as work. Darlene was an avid bowler in various leagues, which never rubbed on her kiddos, but she gave the gift of outdoor living to her children, loved to play bingo and was a very serious card player.

She is preceded in death by her son, Timothy; her husband, Richard; her parents, Roy and Isabelle; her brothers, Ron, Jack, Don and one sister Colleen. They had been preparing for her arrival for a while.

Darlene’s life will be forever cherished in the lives of her children Anita Freshwater (David), Teresa Bouchey (Jody), Patricia Sainsbury (Patrick), Steven Rork (Dawn,) Alan Brown (Heather), ten grandchildren, five great grandchildren with another one on the way, many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

The family would like to thank the staff at Willow Springs for the care they gave mom for many months, through the final journey of her life. We know mom was quite sassy and wasn’t always cooperative.