WA HR4693

House Resolution honors Natalie Naomi Phelps, an educator and cancer awareness advocate who passed away November 10, 2025, at age 43 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, from cancer-related complications

Phelps earned a BA in history from Whitman College and an MA in education from UNC Chapel Hill, where she received a foreign language area studies fellowship for Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies

Career dedicated to education and cultural exchange, teaching in Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar before returning to teach elementary students on Bainbridge Island

Diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer in early 2020 shortly after the birth of her second child; became an advocate for early detection and cancer research funding

Served as co-chair of the Seattle Walk to End Colon Cancer and on the Education Engagement Committee of the Colorectal Cancer Care Alliance