Prudence Lambuth Trudgian died Dec. 23 at Messenger House on Bainbridge Island, following a brief illness after a stroke.

She was born in Seattle on July 17, 1915, the older of two children born to Benjamin Letcher Lambuth and Olive Schram Lambuth.

She was raised on Capital Hill, with a brief stint in the 1920s in Longview, where her father laid out the planned city for the Long-Bell Lumber Company. She graduated in 1933 from St. Nicholas School and attended the University of Washington.

In 1938, she married Arthur Hedderly-Smith in Seattle, and he preceded her in death in 1966. In 1971 she married William L. Trudgian on Bainbridge, and he preceded her in death in 1992.

As a child, Prudence and her family spent summers on Bainbridge Island. In the early 1950s, she and her husband purchased land on New Brooklyn Hill near Island Center, where they began to build their new home, Hilltop Farm. The family moved to the island year-round in 1958, and the farm became her home for nearly 50 years.

As a young woman, she launched herself into a career of community volunteerism, focusing on the welfare of children.

In her early 20s she joined the Seattle Junior League, where her responsibilities included the editing of its publication, “Puget Soundings,” and finding foster homes for children from the Ryther Child Center in its early years. While living on the east side of Lake Washington in the late 1930s she joined the Overlake Service League, serving both as secretary and case finder.

In the late 1930s, she was one of the founders of Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, where she served in many positions for over 30 years, including five terms as president.

Also in the late 1930s, she became a charter member of what was then the Cascade League of the Orthopedic Guild. Prudence’s service to the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, (now the Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center) spanned most of her life. In 1985 she ended 25 years on the hospital board.

For over 25 years she served as chairman or co-chairman of the book department of the hospital’s annual Friendly Exchange Sale. Well into her 80s she continued as an active member of the Elizabeth Fischer Guild, of which she was president in 1994 at age 79, and an active supporter of the Lenore Ostrander Guild, which operates the Bargain Boutique thrift store on Bainbridge Island.

She was a chair of the Junior League’s “Seattle Children’s Recreation Project” which started a creative dramatics program for children in the Seattle area in the 1940s.

She became involved with the Washington Children’s Home, of which her grandfather, John Schram was a founder, serving as committee chair and starting the McGraw Cottage for girls ages 14 to 18.

In the 1940s, she started the Seattle Committee for the Experiment in International Living, and became involved with the Health and Welfare Council of the Community Chest.

In the early 1950s, she started the Saturday morning Children’s Program at the Seattle Museum of History and Industry. For many years she was involved with the Seattle Garden Club, serving two terms as president.

In the early 1960s she worked with the Washington Roadside Council to help effect landmark legislation restricting billboard advertising along roadways.

On Bainbridge Island, she served as a board member of the Bainbridge Foundation and was involved in numerous civic projects. In the late 1960s, she worked with neighbors and activists on the island to fend off the deployment of an anti-intercontinental ballistic missile system that would have located a base adjacent to her farm on land that now hosts the eastern portion of the Grand Forest.

Aside from her service work, her interests included reading, gardening, mushroom hunting with her dogs on her Bainbridge property, and spending time with friends and family.

On Bainbridge Island she was a longtime member of the Vincent Gowen Reading Group that developed out of Father Gowen’s literature classes after his death.

She was preceded in death by her brother, Alan L. Lambuth, of Boise, Idaho.

She is survived by her three children: Arlayne (Tom) Peterson of Lexington, Mass., Bruce (Carole) Hedderly-Smith of Bainbridge Island, and David (Carolyn) Hedderly-Smith of Park City, Utah; stepson William (Cathy) Trudgian of Bothell; and nine grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and numerous nephews, nieces and cousins.

A memorial service will be held in Seattle at Bonney-Watson on Capital Hill at 2 p.m. Jan. 13, with a second reception at 2 p.m. Jan. 14 at St. Barnabas Parish Hall.

Remembrances can be made to the Children’s Hospital, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, or a charity of the donor’s choice.

Arrangements are by Kass & Cook Family Funeral Home of Bainbridge Island.