Eleen Marie Northcutt

NORTHCUTT, Eleen Marie, 67, of Spokane passed away on January 31, 2017 after a long illness. She was born August 23, 1949 in Seattle to Glenn O.N. and Marjorie E. Riedasch. Eleen subsequently graduated from West Seattle High School and Washington State University. On August 12, 1972, she married Richard Lee Northcutt of Spokane and they had two children, Brian Lee Northcutt and Sara Eleen Poindexter both of Spokane. After Rich’s untimely death in 1984, Eleen returned to school and earned Master Degrees in Education and English from Whitworth College in 1985. She then began a long and storied career as a teacher, spanning 32 years, at Northwood Middle School and Mount Spokane High School. After 12 years at Northwood, Eleen joined the faculty of Mount Spokane High School in 1997 and taught courses in Honors English, U.S. History and American Citizenship. She was passionate about her teaching, her students and her school. Many hundreds of students have had their lived changed for the better and their minds opened by her efforts. Most of all, she taught students to think………….to analyze and use facts, data and reality to make their decisions, rather than have lives governed solely by impulse or feelings. Eleen greatly benefited from her time at MSHS because of a consistently supportive Administration that gave her confidence and the opportunity to teach with an open curriculum thus allowing her to be innovative in her work. She made many long term friends at MSHS in an environment that is pragmatic, caring and focused on excellence. During her career Eleen made presentations to the National Council of English Teachers, the National Science Conference and was honored by WSU as an Educator of Excellence. She contributed significantly to the fact that MSHS has been named multiple times to the list of the nation’s very best high schools by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to teaching academic subjects, Eleen was the girl’s golf coach at both Mead and Mount Spokane High Schools over a period of 25 years. While at MSHS her team won the Greater Spokane League Championship five times and Eleen was named GSL Coach of the Year five times. She also had two Individual State Champions and her team won the Washington State Girl’s 3A Golf Championship in 2014, which brought Mount Spokane its first state title. Eleen is survived by her mother Marjorie Riedasch; brother Ronald Riedasch (Ann); son Brian Northcutt (Nishee); daughter Sara Poindexter (Joe); niece Sasha Taggart (Craig); grandchildren Maiya, Hunter, Pattyn, Kyler, Alena and Brooklyn; and grandnephew Becker and grandniece Ellia. Eleen’s celebration of life will be held at Mount Spokane High School on February 12 at 2:00PM. It will be conducted by Pastor Jim Johnson of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of which Eleen has been a member for many years. In lieu of flowers, Eleen requested that donations be made to the Eleen Northcutt Memorial Fund at Spokane Teachers Credit Union. The money will be used to fund athletic fees and equipment needs for students who cannot otherwise afford them.