A former editor of the Mercer Island Reporter died on June 27. Elizabeth (Liz) Schensted was  the editor of the Reporter between November of 1972 and May 1979. In March of 1975, she was involved in a serious head-on collision on I-90 with another car that crossed over the reversible lane during rush hour on a rainy day. Mrs. Schensted’s car, a Dodge Dart, slid nearly 30 feet down an embankment after the impact. She was seriously injured while the woman in the other car, an MG, walked away. The other driver was later charged with negligent driving.

Born in 1929, Mrs. Schensted grew up in Wapato and Wenatchee. As a college graduate from Washington State College, she received a Navy commission during the height of the Korean War. She was assigned to Charleston, S.C., as a public affairs officer. Three years later she married Warren Schensted, an Air Force pilot. She later worked in Hawaii with the Windward Press, then as editor at the Reporter, followed by a position as editor-in-chief at Seattle’s Argus publications. She later worked for a national recreational boating newspaper and other publications.

Mrs. Schensted is preceded in death by a son, Gregory, who lost his battle with cystic fibrosis at age 10, and Patrick, her 6-month-old grandson, who also had a genetic disorder. She is survived by her husband, Warren, and two other sons and other relatives. Services have been held.