Obituary of Elsa van Voorthuysen Wulff

Elsa van Voorthuysen Wulff died on February 26, 2020 at the age of 89.  Elsa died at home, surrounded by family, on a sunny day that hinted of spring, in the house where she and her husband raised their four children.

Elsa was born at home on August 7, 1930 in the Netherlands, in the town of Voorburg.  The eldest of four sisters, Elsa helped her father in his communication work as part of the Dutch resistance during the Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1945.

Elsa met Johan Adolf “Hans” Wulff at a dance class while he was an engineering student at Delft University.  Elsa and Hans were married in 1955, and the newlyweds immigrated to the United States in 1956, after Hans had completed medical training at University of Leiden.

Elsa’s and Hans’ life in America began in Lexington, Kentucky, where Hans did his medical residency and where Elsa gave birth to their first child.  Hans’ medical training and subsequent academic career took the family to Seattle, Oklahoma City, Dallas and back to Oklahoma City, where Hans took charge of the department of internal medicine at the University of Oklahoma. 

In 1969, Elsa, Hans and their four children moved to Olympia, Washington, where Hans entered private practice as Thurston County’s second internist.  In 1972, the family moved into a 1911 farmhouse on five acres at the end of Johnson Point. This is the house where Elsa’s love of animals and hands-on education in animal husbandry began, since her children seemed to bring home anything with fur or feathers.

Elsa was multi-lingual, speaking Dutch, English, French, Spanish and German. She earned a master’s degree in Spanish Literature and spent time teaching languages in the classroom and tutoring individual students.

In 1988, two years after Hans’ death, Elsa and her daughter Yolanka became co-owners of a tiny farm store above Mud Bay called The Grainery.  Over the years, all four of Elsa’s children spent time working in the company that would later be known as Mud Bay. The company ultimately became a partnership between Elsa, her two youngest children, Lars and Marisa, and hundreds of employee-owners, known as Muddies.

Elsa worked actively for Mud Bay until 2002 and remained Mud Bay’s President Emeritus, an engaged shareholder and a beloved presence at Mud Bay stores throughout the rest of her life. Elsa was both incredulous and also so proud that, through the efforts of so many Muddies, her little feed store had become one of the only employee-owned companies in the pet industry and the largest pet retailer headquartered in the Pacific Northwest.

Elsa is survived by four children, Yolanka, Bianca, Lars and Marisa Wulff; and four grandchildren, Audrey and Emma Covert and Scarlett and Roxanne Wulff. 

A celebration of Elsa’s life will be held on August 8, 2002.  Friends and acquaintances who would like to receive an invitation are encouraged to send their contact information to evwulffmemorial@gmail.com.

To send flowers, please access the Tribute Store through the link below. Alternatively, you may make a gift in Elsa’s name to any animal welfare organization or Alzheimer’s research organization.

 

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