Christine Cheney Otis of Vashon Island died Nov. 6, 2002, of cancer. She was 93 years old.

She was born July 18, 1909, in Birmingham, Ala..

Always a lady and a book lover, she was reciting poems and literary passages until the day before she died.

Of all the words in the English language, “feisty” was her favorite and an apt description of her personality, her family says. She balanced that spirit and vigor with propriety and dignity, qualities that endured to the end, they say.

The daughter of Frank and Irene Cheney, she was raised in Allgood, Ala., at Graystone. This childhood home was a pivotal place for her and the source of many of her fondest memories. After her valued time there, she attended Birmingham Southern College, where she received a bachelor’s degree, majoring in English.

Christine worked in the family lime and cement company for several years before marrying Brooks Otis in 1937. Christine was a strong, loving and supportive wife for her husband — a classics professor and author — as his career took him from Chicago to Geneva, NY, to Cambridge, England, Rome, Beirut, Stanford, Calif. and Chapel Hill, NC.

After he died, she moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., where she lived near her eldest daughter Molly for several years. During the past eight years, she resided on Vashon, near her youngest daughter Irene, at the Knipp Hopper Home.

Mrs. Otis was a devoted mother of five children and an energetic community volunteer wherever she found herself. During her life in Palo Alto, Calif., she was instrumental in starting a swim program for children with developmental problems. She was a prolific and gifted seamstress, a talented knitter and lover of animals.

Survivors include her two sons, Brooks Adams Otis of Arcata, Calif. and Paul Otis of Seattle, and two daughters, Molly Barnes of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Irene Otis of Vashon, eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Her son Cheney Otis and her husband of 40 years, Brooks Otis, died earlier.

A service was Monday at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit on Vashon. She will be buried next to her husband in Chapel Hill.

Arrangements were entrusted to Island Funeral Service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Hospice of Seattle, 425 Pontius Ave. N., Suite 300, Seattle, Wash. 98109, or the Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation, P.O. Box 1416, Vashon, Wash. 98070.