Casey Gunderson, 36, who worked as a flight attendant and ran several businesses, on Feb. 14, 2020.
Class Notes
Class Notes include professional accomplishments, awards, retirements, weddings, obituaries and other news about Western Washington University alumni; they’re gathered from published reports and communication from alumni themselves.
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Obituaries
Casey Gunderson - 2004
Betty Jean (Bayley) Brown - 1941
Betty Jean (Bayley) Brown, 99, who worked for the Olympia School District and was an active community volunteer, on May 1, 2020.
Pat Ingram - 1957
Pat Ingram, 90, retired physical education faculty at Oregon State University, OSU’s first director of Women’s Athletics, and a member of OSU’s Sports Hall of Fame, on Oct. 6, 2020.
Darrell LeMarr Fairchild - 1957
Darrell LeMarr Fairchild, 91, a U.S. Army combat veteran who ran Fairchild Floors in Port Angeles, on March 24, 2021.
Ronald Hall - 1956
Ronald Hall, 86, retired senior vice president for the Washington Casualty Co., on June 28, 2020.
Arnold Torseth - 1955
Arnold Torseth, 90, a retired teacher and principal at La Conner Elementary School, on Sept. 19, 2020, in Mount Vernon.
Robert Ley - 1955
Robert Ley, 91, a retired music teacher and administrator in the North Kitsap School District, on May 22, 2020.
Rita Dunn - 1955
Rita Dunn, 87, retired teacher at Talkeetna Elementary School in Alaska, on Sept. 15, 2020.
Harris Joseph Seckel - 1953
Harris Joseph Seckel, 92, a World War II veteran and retired teacher, on Jan. 6, 2020.
Loretta Wilson - 1953
Loretta Wilson, 87, who worked for Seattle District Court after raising 10 children, on March 7, 2019.
Frank Gadwa - 1953
Frank Gadwa, 100, a carpenter, sheet metal worker and World War II veteran who survived 18 months in a prisoner of war camp, a 500-mile forced march and, after the war, became an elementary school principal in the Marysville School District, on Aug. 28, 2020.
Verner Tovrea - 1952
Verner Tovrea, 94, a U.S. Army World War II veteran and retired science instructor at Everett Community College, on March 8, 2020.
Sharon Ehlers - 1952
Sharon Ehlers, 90, former president of Volunteer Services for the California Association of Hospital and Health Systems, on March 21, 2021.
Cecil Thomas - 1951
Cecil Thomas, 91, a mountain climber and community volunteer who retired from Shell Oil Co. in Anacortes, on Feb. 18, 2021.
Ted George - 1951
Ted George, 92, an education advocate, former tribal councilman and oldest elder of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, on May 13, 2021. The tribe created a lifetime service award in his honor in 2018.
Mildred Louise Whealdon - 1950
Mildred Louise Whealdon, 93, a retired teacher, on March 15, 2021, on Bainbridge Island.
Donna Mae Mills - 1949
Donna Mae Mills, 92, a retired teacher of special needs children and board member for organizations that empower young women, on Nov. 7, 2020.
Esther Marie Hanson - 1949
Esther Marie Hanson, 92, who taught elementary school at Lincoln School then later worked at Northwest Veterinary Clinic in Stanwood, on Dec. 23, 2020.
Kathleen Gibson - 1948
Kathleen Gibson, 92, on Aug. 28, 2020, in Sequim.
Vivian Shearer - 1946
Vivian Shearer, 100, a retired teacher, on Sept. 15, 2020.