Highline Community College

                                                                                    MEDIA RELEASE

 

FOR RELEASE:   IMMEDIATELY

DATE:                   March 19, 2008

CONTACT:          Lisa Skari, (206) 878-3710, ext. 3705, lskari@highline.edu

 

Highline Community College Mourns Trustee Rita Creighton

DES MOINES, Wash. — Highline Community College Trustee Rita Creighton of Normandy Park passed away March 16, 2008.  Mrs. Creighton leaves her husband, Stuart, son Jeff, daughter Courtney (Scott Chaffee), relatives, and many friends throughout the community.

 

Services for Rita will be this Friday, March 21, 2008 at 2:00 PM at The Cove, 1500 Shorebrook Drive, Normandy Park.

 

Rita Creighton was first appointed to the Highline Community College Board of Trustees on March 9, 2005 and served as board vice chair in 2006-07.  “We will mourn her loss as we celebrate her lifelong commitment to pursuing fairness in all avenues of community involvement.  Her wisdom, love and passion for all mankind were evident in everything that she did.  The Board of Trustees of Highline Community College is thankful to her family and friends for sharing her with us for the time that she spent with us,” stated Karen Vander Ark, Highline Community College Board of Trustees chair.

 

“Rita Creighton was a committed and caring person whose every action, both as a board member and as a citizen reflected her deep concern for the welfare of students and our community,” added Highline interim president Jack Bermingham.

 

Throughout a distinguished professional career, she held a variety of key positions in education, including the National PTA Board of Directors; numerous leadership positions at the national and state levels of the PTA, including State PTA President, 1999-2001; was appointed by Governor Locke to A+ Commission-Successful Schools education and reform subcommittee; and served on the SeaTac Occupational Skills Center Advisory Board. 

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Highline Community College

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Mrs. Creighton was also involved in philanthropic activities including service on the Highline Historical Society Board of Directors.

 

Highline Community College was founded in 1961 as the first community college in King County. With approximately 9,500 students and 350,000 alumni, it is one of the state’s largest institutions of higher education. The college offers a wide range of academic transfer and professional-technical education programs, with day, evening, on-line, and weekend classes.

 

With the most diverse population of any college in Washington State, Highline takes a multi-cultural approach to education for the success of all its students and the prosperity of its surrounding communities. Alumni include former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, entrepreneur Junki Yoshida and noted author Ann Rule.

 

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