Egils "Jack" Otlans, born in Riga, Latvia on November 9, 1942, passed away peacefully at his home in Lakewood, WA on March 22, 2025. Born in the middle of World War II, his family fled to Germany where they lived in a displaced persons camp for six years. Egils moved to Tacoma with his sister, Mara, and parents, Viktors and Valija in 1950 after being sponsored by the Lutheran Federation.

Egils graduated from Stadium High School in 1960, and went on to get his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington in 1967. Together with his father and then on his own, he spent his entire career as a general contractor and builder through his Otlans Construction Company.

After marrying Ana Maria in 1977, the family settled on Gravelly Lake where they raised their children and spent countless nights with friends and family. Egils will be remembered for being a gracious host who loved to water ski, barbecue and talk history over a beer.

Despite spending the majority of his life in the Pacific Northwest, Egils always felt close to his homeland Latvia. He took great pleasure in visiting free Latvia and restoring family property that had been destroyed during communist rule. He even came out of retirement to help build the United States embassy in Riga.

Egils is survived by his wife, Ana Maria, sister Mara, son Viktors, daughter Marlena (Oscar), daughter Nikola (Vladislav), and son Peters (Maria). Egils has six grandchildren who will miss growing up without him.

A wake will be held at New Tacoma Cemetery in the Evergreen Chapel from 11 am to 12:30 pm on Thursday, April 10th. A private reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the West Coast Latvian Education Center.