Michael Seal, 84, founding director of Western’s Vehicle Research Institute, on Oct. 29, 2021. In his 35 years teaching at Western, Seal was the force behind the institute’s innovative research in car design and a series of experimental vehicles that students took to competitions around the country.
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
Michael Seal - FAC
Larry Richardson - FAC
Larry Richardson, 86, a 1957 graduate and Western’s longtime debate coach and forensics director, beginning in 1970, on Nov. 22, 2021. The Larry and Marilyn Richardson Endowment at Western supports debate scholarships.
Lee Maracle - FAC
Lee Maracle, 71, former Distinguished Professor of Canadian Culture at Western and a celebrated writer, poet and advocate for Indigenous women and children, on Nov. 11, 2021, in Surrey, B.C. Maracle’s time at Canada House is chronicled in Professor Emeritus Don Alper’s “Bridging the Longest Border.”
Linda Steitz - 1992
Linda Streitz, 69, a Seattle resident, on April 25, 2019.
Donald Gene Slone - 1981
Donald Gene Slone, 65, retired clinical psychologist for Western State Hospital, on Sept. 25, 2021, in Lakewood.
Ethel Lee Mitchell - 1976
Ethel Lee Mitchell, 89, retired area manager of the Juvenile Diversion Program of King County Superior Court and a tireless advocate for justice and equality for Black people, on Aug. 24, 2021.
Jonathon Appels - 1974
Jonathon Appels, 67, a longtime adjunct professor who taught in a wide variety of areas at Fordham University, including English, anthropology, dance, history, African and African American studies, theology, comparative literature and urban studies, on Nov. 28, 2021, in Manhattan.
Theodore Bestor - 1973
Theodore Bestor, 69, Distinguished Alumnus and Reischauer Institute Professor of Social Anthropology and Japanese Studies at Harvard University, on July 1, 2021, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His research specialized in contemporary urban Japanese society and culture, particularly the Tsukiji fish market of Tokyo. The Japanese government awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun in 2017 for his contributions to the study of Japan and scholarly exchange between Japan and the U.S.
John Garber - 1972
John Garber, 75, a Marine Corps veteran who worked in the aviation insurance industry, on Aug. 24, 2021, in Spokane.
Marion Norma Seelye - 1964
Marion Norma Seelye, 95, who went back to school after having five children and became a junior high school math teacher in South Kitsap, on Feb. 22, 2020, in Anacortes.
Keith E. Stearns - 1955
Keith E. Stearns, 91, a Vancouver resident, on April 27, 2021.
Meredith Runestrand - 1950
Meredith Runestrand, 94, a talented painter and homemaker in a large family that included 10 WWU alumni among her children and grandchildren, on Oct. 23, 2021.
Weddings
Danny Edgel - 2016
Danny Edgel, '16, B.A, economics, and Leah Gold on Oct. 7, 2023, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ryan Page - 2016
Leah Bennett, '16, B.A., geography, and Ryan Page, '16, B.A., environmental studies, on June 30, 2023, in Anacortes.
Leah Bennett - 2016
Leah Bennett, '16, B.A., geography, and Ryan Page, '16, B.A., environmental studies, on June 30, 2023, in Anacortes.
Levi Friedman - 2014
Levi Friedman, '14, B.A., English - creative writing, and Samantha O'Brochta, '13, B.A., journalism - public relations, on March 25, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Samantha O'Brochta - 2013
Samantha O'Brochta, '13, B.A., journalism - public relations, and Levi Friedman, '14, B.A., English - creative writing, on March 25, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Emma Rose Wayand - 2013
Nicholas Boone, ’09, B.A., design, and Emma Rose Wayand, ’13, B.A., communication, on Sept. 10, 2022, in Tacoma.
Nicholas Boone - 2009
Nicholas Boone, ’09, B.A., design, and Emma Rose Wayand, ’13, B.A., communication, on Sept. 10, 2022, in Tacoma.
Cameron McCracken - 2009
Haley Huston, ’08, B.S., biology, and Cameron McCracken,’09, B.A., general studies, on Aug. 17, 2019. They now have twin boys.