Longtime Lompoc resident Lorraine Baty Specht, wife of Max Specht and mother of Linda Everly of Lompoc and Jim Specht of Silver Spring, MD., died peacefully at home on February 27 after a lengthy fight with cancer. She was 86.

She was born on May 7, 1920, in Newton, Iowa, the third of 12 children for Roy and Lola Baty. She showed her strong will at an early age, earning a teaching credential and teaching all grades in a one-room school. Her sense of adventure led her to go to work for Mid-Continent Airlines, serving as one of the original stewardesses, and later as one of the top radio operators helping to guide pilots home through storms.

While working for the airline, she met a young Air Force pilot named Max Specht, and they married during the war in 1945. After the war, she and Max moved to California and started a family. In Los Angeles, she worked for a time as an executive assistant to the president of Balzer's grocery stores.
After the birth of her children, Lorraine put her energy and organizing talents into a wide range of youth and adult service organizations. She served on the regional PTA board in Santa Monica, and in the parents' organizations for Little League, Pony League, DeMolay and Job's Daughters. She was President of Women of the Moose in the Santa Monica Lodge. She developed a reputation for frugality, leaving every organization in better financial shape because of her leadership.

After retiring to Lompoc, Lorraine's passions were her grandchildren, and she was a fixture at baseball games featuring her grandsons Curtis and Brandon Banner. Her daughter, Linda Everly, is a registered nurse and director for Lompoc Healthcare District and in many community groups. The family have been faithful worshipers at St. Mary's Episcopal Church of Lompoc.

She is survived by her loving husband, Max Specht; her daughter Linda and son-in-law, Jim Everly, of Lompoc; a son, Jim Specht and his wife Erin Kelly of Silver Spring, Maryland; grandchildren Curtis and Brandon Banner of Lompoc and Clare Specht of Silver Spring Maryland; sisters, Doris Immell, Winona Clark and Junella Shunk and brothers, Carroll Baty and John Baty and 7 step-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by sisters, Faith Specht and Dena Couch.

Services will be held 1:00 p.m. Saturday, March 3, 2007 at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 2800 Harris Grade Road, Lompoc. Private burial will be at Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery.

Visitation hours will be Saturday 10:00 a.m. to noon at Starbuck-Lind Mortuary.