Ushka remembered for her invincible spirit

Always with her bright smile, Ushka (second from right) loved taking selfies, here with (from left) Tacoma City Councilmember Kristina Walker, State Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, Gov. Jay Inslee, Tacoma City Councilmembers Kiara Daniels and Sarah Rumbaugh, and Speaker of the House Laurie

The lighter someone makes you feel at heart, the heavier your heart feels when they’re gone. This is why people across our city and county from all walks of life are so deeply affected by the loss of Tacoma City Councilmember Catherine Ushka. The power of one woman to uplift so many is astounding but this is just what she will always be remembered for whether you were among her closest friends or an acquaintance who felt that special little something when meeting her.

On Wednesday, May 15, Catherine passed away after a courageous battle against cervical cancer, her loving family and friends all around her in her own home. A “Celebration of Life and Awesomeness” for her will be held this Thursday, May 23, at the Eastside Community Center. Doors open at 2 p.m., the service begins at 2:30, and there will be a community repast immediately after. TV Tacoma will be livestreaming. The family is asking that in lieu of flowers, make donations to the Oasis Youth Center (oasisyouthcenter.org) or the Making a Difference Foundation/Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank (themadf.org).

The news of her death was shocking to fathom, and this has been expressed through social media posts that kept coming in for days.

“This hits us hard,” from the city’s Planning Tacoma department. “This has been a tough week for the city council, the Eastside and South End, and for this entire city,” from Mayor Victoria Woodards. “Our community has lost a true giant today,” from former Tacoma City Councilmember Keith Blocker. “Deeply saddened to hear of Catherine Ushka’s passing, she was a great champion of Tacoma, and our neighborhood,” from LUX Coffee owner Justin Orion Everman. “It is with a heavy heart that we share news of the passing of City of Tacoma Councilwoman Catherine Ushka,” from the Eastside Neighborhood Advisory Council. “We are deeply saddened to hear about the loss of our friend and governing partner,” from the Pierce County Council. These are just some examples.

Catherine embodied a wondrous combination of being approachable, personable and warm with also being tough, determined and no nonsense when it came to anything she wanted to get done for her community and city. Her demeanor and deep, resonant voice commanded attention and her actions commanded respect. But above all, anytime she was out in public she was wearing her big smile and sharing her loving energy one could feel just by being near her.

“Catherine literally helped reshape East and South Tacoma – from her boots on the ground work alongside community volunteers to her unwavering commitment to educate and collaborate with fellow leaders,” Metro Parks Tacoma President Andrea Smith told the Tacoma Weekly. “Her rare superpower was how she deftly and authentically flowed between roles as a respected, high visibility elected leader to the neighbor who routinely threw on her sweats to join community clean ups.”

A cherished memory will always be the day Catherine was honored with the “Catherine Ushka’s Gas Station Park” dedication last month on April 16. Ushka was the lynchpin that brought together the South End Neighborhood Council (SENCo), City of Tacoma and Metro Parks to secure funding for the park revitalization that was completed last year. She was also a community volunteer who helped transition the space from a toxic lot to the community asset it is now.

Catherine’s partner, Pierce County Councilman Marty Campbell, said she was at once humbled, honored and, in her classic way, she didn’t think she deserved such recognition. At the renaming event, she was in a wheelchair due to mobility issues, but she was alert, active and with her wonderful sense of humor.

“A month before that it didn’t look good. She had a surgery that cleared up a lot of symptoms and we got four good weeks,” Campbell said. “That was week one of the four weeks.”

A MODEL PUBLIC SERVANT

Born in Bryn Mawr, Penn., on July 12, 1968, Catherine moved about the country before coming to the South Sound in the early 1990s. She joined the U.S. Naval Reserves in 1998.

“She joined the Navy to see the world and they stationed her at Ft. Lewis,” Campbell said with a slight chuckle over the irony. She didn’t get to see the world, but she was deployed for active duty when her country needed her most just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“She was honored to answer that call,” Campbell said. For more than a year, Catherine commuted to Whidbey Island as a military police officer. In a patrol car with a 9-millimeter handgun and walkie-talkie, she patrolled the coastline as our first line of defense from any possible water-borne threat.

She received a Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Award; War on Terrorism Medal for service in Operation Noble Eagle; Letter of Commendation for service at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI); Armed Forces Reserve Medal with its bronze “M” denoting reservists called to active duty; Letter of Appreciation from the NASWI Commander; Letter of Appreciation from the Secretary of the Navy; and a National Defense Ribbon.

A philosophy major, Catherine earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Evergreen State College-Tacoma in 1999. In 2004, she went to work for Job Corps to help local people with special needs find job placements. She then operated II Fathoms Consulting, a communications and campaign consulting firm, then worked for Expedia in its fulfillment operations. It was in 2009 when she officially stepped foot into public service when she was elected to the Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors while engaged in marketing and communications work at Green River Community College. Catherine served eight years on the school board, three of them as president.

“Catherine was a trusted friend and colleague to many. She never shied away from challenges or making difficult decisions,” said School Board President Lisa Keating. “Working hard for what and who she believed in was how she moved through the world. She took great pride in her city and was very proud of Tacoma Public Schools. Her legacy of service will continue to improve the lives of Tacoma residents for years to come.”

During this time, Catherine was a staunch advocate for building the Eastside Community Center. She left the school board to serve on the Tacoma City Council starting in 2017 where she continued her advocacy, celebrating the center’s opening in 2018. Pierce County Council Chair Ryan Mello was serving on the city council with Uskha.

“She kept her head down and did the work,” he said when asked what he admired about her. “She would spend weekends organizing neighbors and community members to paint over graffiti, clean up abandoned properties, or teach how to use the Tacoma FIRST 311 program so that they were empowered to make their communities safer and better.”

Catherine was chair of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department while on the council, and her mettle would be tested seriously. Then-County Council members Pam Roach, Jim McCune and Doug Richardson, and current council member Dave Morell, with backing from County Executive Bruce Dammeier, staged a failed attempt to dismantle the department at the height of the COVID pandemic and put its control solely in the hands of the county. She joined with protestors rallying outside the County-City Building, just as outraged as they were.

With determination in her eyes beneath a “Dammeier Debacle” banner, Ushka expresses community outrage at a rally protesting the attempt of several members of Pierce County government to dissolve the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department at the height of the COVID pandemic. Photo: Dan Villa

“They expected pushback, but they did not expect her, the backlash being so well spoken from her,” Campbell said.

TPCHD Director Chantell Harmon Reed said that in only a short time under her board leadership, Catherine’s legacy is clear.

“She was tirelessly committed to the Department’s mission of protecting and improving our community, especially in health equity and racial justice. Her legacy will continue to influence our Health Department for years to come.”

SHE CAME FROM NEIGHBORHOODS

It was a fortunate event for Catherine to be elected to the city council representing District 4 where she lived. That she could use her platform to help residents in the Eastside and part of the South End fit perfectly with where she came from since before the city council, she was chair of the Eastside Neighborhood Advisory Council. The South End Neighborhood Council is next door to the Eastside Neighborhood Advisory Council, and SENCo Chair Andi Haug and former chair Athena Brewer remember Catherine as a staunch advocate.

“When I first joined the neighborhood council, I truly felt in my heart and still feel that she was the one,” Haug said. “With politicians, there’s give and take and sometimes you have to make concessions that maybe you’re not really keen on, but you do it to get the bigger picture to happen. She was fantastic at that, and I really admired that about her, how she managed to make concessions but would not completely sell out on something.”

Brewer said Catherine was “dedicated to the peoples’ voice and the whole city of Tacoma. She really cared about the people and what they needed in one of the two most diverse neighborhoods in the city. She was always a great champion of the neighborhood council system, working with us and being there for us.”

Haug and Campbell both commented on Catherine’s gentle way of responding to citizens who came to her angry over an issue they cared about.

Haug said, “When someone would be angry or yelling, her take on it was to not pay attention so much to the way it was voiced but to pay attention to the message, that they were hurting and upset and the reason they were upset, not the delivery. I felt that was so wise and kind, looking beyond the chaos to find the gem of truth and how she could help to solve this person’s problem.”

Campbell noted that Catherine was incredibly compassionate and willing to listen to anyone.

“Even when people were angry and they came up later to apologize, she would say, ‘I’d rather hear your anger than your silence,’” he said.

City Councilmember Joe Bushnell told of how he would not be on the council were it not for Catherine’s sage advice to speak his truth about his family’s harrowing experiences during the Khmer Rouge genocide of Cambodian citizens.

“She really took me under her wing,” he said. “One of the most pointed memories I have is during my election campaign, I was trying to figure out what to say and do. She helped me find my voice, how to talk about the tragedy my family had gone through and talk about that in a way that’s genuine and tells people about who I am. That’s indicative of who she was as a person because she helped so many others find their voice as she gave voice to our community on the Eastside.”

Catherine was always ready for a selfie, here with Pierce County Council Chair Ryan Mello (middle) and U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer.

On May 3, less than two weeks before her passing and amid her own personal suffering, Catherine made what would be her final post to her Facebook friends and family: “What a beautiful morning! Have an excellent day!”

May we all take to heart this mutual inheritance from her.

A city expresses its sorrow

Press release from City of Tacoma

It is with deep sadness that the City of Tacoma mourns the passing of Council Member Catherine Ushka, who represented District 4.

Catherine Ushka was elected to the District 4 seat of the Tacoma City Council in 2017. Following her re-election to another four-year term on the City Council, she was appointed to serve as Deputy Mayor in 2022.

Deeply committed to public service, Council Member Ushka served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, deploying after September 11, 2001. She also served eight years – including three years as president – on the Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors, and held many other community leadership roles prior to beginning her first term on the City Council in 2017. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Council Member Catherine Ushka,” said Mayor Victoria Woodards. “She will be remembered by many for her works seen and unseen. Here in Tacoma, she will be especially remembered for her fierce advocacy for the Eastside and South End, her willingness to stand for those whose voices are so often left out, and putting her hands in the dirt as well as rising to the highest levels of policy to make lasting change.”

She is survived by her daughter Amelia, son Gus, father Mike, brother David and partner Marty.

Press release from the Pierce County Council

The Pierce County Council is deeply saddened to hear about the loss of our friend and governing partner, Catherine Ushka. She was a dedicated and passionate community leader, and her unwavering commitment to public service has left an indelible mark on our community. Her legacy of service will continue to shape and inspire us for many years to come.

County Councilmembers saw firsthand Ushka’s commitment to the health and well-being of the residents of Tacoma and, more broadly, Pierce County through her leadership as Chair of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Board of Health. She was a fierce advocate for Tacoma’s Eastside and South End neighborhoods, pushing hard for more equitable investments and resources for the area.

Those efforts were honored on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, when Metro Parks Tacoma unveiled Catherine Ushka’s Gas Station Park.

In one of her last public addresses, Ushka said, “I was thrilled to advocate for this space. Now – watching the kids play and hearing parents and neighbors talk about how the park makes their lives better – that’s award enough for me. That’s why I serve and serving this community that I love has been the greatest honor of my life.”

During her life, Ushka also served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, eight years on the Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors, including three years as president, and she held many other community leadership roles prior to beginning her first term on the Tacoma City Council in 2017.

The Pierce County Council extends its most heartfelt condolences to her friends and family, who knew her best. She will be dearly missed

From the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber

The Chamber sends their deepest condolences to the family and friends of Tacoma City Councilmember, Catherine Ushka, who passed away last night surrounded by family and friends.

Catherine embodied the true spirit of Tacoma. Her grit, resiliency, and fierce dedication to our community was and will continue to be an inspiration to us all. Thank you, Catherine – your legacy and passion live on in all of us.

From Planning Tacoma

This hits us hard. Council Member Ushka was a champion for the Neighborhood Planning Program and an integral part of the McKinley Hill Neighborhood Plan, who always supported implementation of the community’s goals. As staff, we appreciated her leadership and support and the way she prioritized uplifting community voices and City follow through. We hope to continue her legacy.

From Tacoma Public Schools

We are deeply sorry to learn of the news of the passing of former School Board member and community advocate Catherine Ushka.

Ushka served eight years on the School Board, three of them as president. Ushka was passionate about innovation in education and continually drove for more support of kids. She worked tirelessly to make sure students – especially those who were underrepresented – had the resources they needed.

“Catherine was a trusted friend and colleague to many. She never shied away from challenges or making difficult decisions,” said current School Board President Lisa Keating. “Working hard for what and who she believed in was how she moved through the world. She took great pride in her city and was very proud of Tacoma Public Schools. Her legacy of service will continue to improve the lives of Tacoma residents for years to come.”

After leaving the School Board, Ushka was elected to the Tacoma City Council in 2017, where she served as a council member and Deputy Mayor.

She also became a member of the county’s Board of Health and served both as its Vice Chair and Chair. During her time as Chair, she helped lead the organization through the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Deeply committed to public service, Ushka served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, deploying after September 11, 2001.

We appreciate her dedication to Tacoma and our country, and we will miss her. We share our condolences with her family, friends, and all who had the pleasure of knowing and working with her.

From former Tacoma City Councilmember Keith Blocker

“Our community has lost a true giant today.

“Catherine Ushka was a dear friend and a shining example of what it means to live with integrity, compassion, and an unstoppable commitment to justice.

“Catherine had a gift for seeing the best in people and situations, no matter how challenging. Her presence had a way of making everyone around her feel heard, valued, and inspired to be their best selves.

“Above all, Catherine was a fearless champion for equity and inclusion. She believed in and advocated for the dignity of every human being and dedicated her life to building a community in Tacoma where everyone could have the opportunity to thrive.

“The void she leaves behind is immense, but so is the impact she made on all of us. Her spirit will forever be a part of the fabric of our city.

“To Marty and the rest of Catherine’s family and loved ones – we are with you. Catherine’s legacy will continue to have an impact through the countless lives she touched and policies she advocated for.

“You fought a great fight. Rest well my friend. Your light will continue to guide us.”

From Metro Parks Tacoma on Faceook

Community members and local leaders gathered to honor Tacoma City Council member Catherine Ushka and add her name to Gas Station Park. After years of working to ensure Tacoma’s Eastside and South End neighborhoods received more equitable investment and recognition, Catherine Ushka now has a park named in honor of her efforts and achievements.

She was the lynchpin that brought together the South End Neighborhood Council, City of Tacoma and Metro Parks to secure funding for the park revitalization that was completed in 2023. She was also a community volunteer who helped transition the space from a toxic lot to the park it is now.

In her acknowledgement of this honor, Catherine gave appreciation for a fellow member of the South End Neighborhood Council, Fred Brookshier, who lived near the park and organized efforts to build and maintain the park in the early 2000s.

Learn more about at Catherine Ushka’s service and contributions at http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/catherine-ushka-gas…

From the Eastside Neighborhood Advisory Council

It is with a heavy heart that we share news of the passing of City of Tacoma Councilwoman Catherine Ushka. She has been a champion of the Mighty Eastside for decades and this loss is immeasurable to all citizens across Tacoma. Godspeed Catherine.

From LUX Coffee owner Justin Orion Everman

“Deeply saddened to hear of Catherine Ushka’s passing, she was a great champion of Tacoma, and our neighborhood. She was an outstanding councilwoman, neighbor, and person.”

From Making a Difference Foundation & Eloise’s Cooking Pot Food Bank

Thank you Councilmember Ushkas for your service, your kindness, and your tireless efforts to make Tacoma a better place for all. You have left an indelible mark on our community, and your presence will be greatly missed. Praying for your family! RIP

From the Downtown Tacoma Partnership

The Downtown Tacoma Partnership mourns the loss of dedicated Tacoma City Councilmember, Catherine Ushka. Our friends at the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber said it best, “Councilmember Uskha embodied the true spirit of Tacoma. Her grit, resiliency, and fierce dedication to our community was and will continue to be an inspiration to us all.”

Thank you, Catherine. Your legacy and passion will live on in all of us.

From the Tacoma Business Council

We were deeply saddened to learn yesterday of Council Member Catherine Ushka’s death. Catherine was thoughtful, accessible, and charming. We admired her willingness to roll up her sleeves and dig into thorny issues for the good of the city even when those issues didn’t involve her own district. While we didn’t always see the pressing issues of the day in the same way; we knew she would treat us with respect and listen to our views. We have enormous respect for Catherine. She will be missed.

From Metro Parks Tacoma Board President Andrea Smith

“Her rare superpower was how she deftly and authentically flowed between roles as a respected, high-visibility elected leader to the neighbor who routinely threw on her sweats to join community clean ups. Catherine lived each day with a goal of making a difference in service to others. The outpouring of love the community is expressing is evidence of the impact she made.”

From Chantell Harmon Reed, Director of Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department

“We are greatly saddened to learn that our Board of Health Chair, Catherine Ushka, has passed away. In only a short time under her Board leadership, her legacy is clear.

Press release from Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department

We are greatly saddened to learn that our Board of Health Chair, Catherine Ushka, has passed away. In only a short time under her Board leadership, her legacy is clear.

She was tirelessly committed to the Department’s mission of protecting and improving our community, especially in health equity and racial justice. Her legacy will continue to influence our Health Department for years to come.

Catherine joined our Board of Health in 2018 and was elected our Vice Chair in the same year. In 2019-2020 she was our Board of Health Chair and again from 2023 until her passing.

She was a public health advocate locally and nationally. She has long been an ardent advocate for equity and health even before she was elected to City Council. She served 8 years on Tacoma Public School’s Board of Directors, including 3 as president.

She was the president of the National Association of Local Boards of Health and served during two appointments to the Association of Washington Cities Legislative Committee. She was also the City Council’s representative to the National League of Cities. She was a U.S. Navy veteran deeply committed to public health and public service.

She was our Board Chair during some of our most challenging years for the Department and the community. She led us through the COVID-19 pandemic response and during the years of social unrest and racial reckoning in the wake of the George Floyd and Manuel Ellis killings.

She led the Board in declaring racism as a public health crisis, and even through bouts of personal illness, was unrelenting in her expectation that we make good on this commitment and serve our community compassionately and effectively.

Central to this commitment was her vision to bring me here to lead Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department as the Director of Public Health. She knew what she wanted in my role, and throughout my hiring process and during my two months at the Department, we had regular conversations where she continued to share her vision for closing health disparity gaps and delivering on our commitment to racial equity.

She also cared deeply about our staff. She often spoke about making sure those on the front lines of working so hard to protect and improve community health had the support of our Board of Health, and of Department leadership. Catherine believed everyone deserved to be healthy and live resiliently. And she advocated for this belief until the very end of her life. Her legacy will carry on in our work every day. All of us at Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will miss her very much.

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