Wallace Wayne White

Wallace Wayne White
 
Born on June 28, 1928 in Seattle, WA and passed away in Seattle on April 16th at the age of 81 after a long struggle with Parkinson’s.

Wally had a rich and fulfilling outdoor oriented life which he embraced with an acerbic and sarcastic wit. His nautical adventures started at 17, working in support boats off Attu in the Aleutian Islands. While getting his Mathematics degree at San Diego State he spent time tuna fishing off South America and in the Galapagos Islands. After graduation he worked in aerospace, first at Convair and then at Boeing’s Kent Space Center in the new field of Operations Research.

At Boeing, Wally became an early member of the Boeing Seahorses skin diving club. This active dive club was his social family for many years. With other club members, Wally helped pioneer underwater photography in the Pacific Northwest. He captured giant octopi for the Seattle aquarium, visited Cobb seamount, explored numerous shipwrecks, amassed a fabulous antique bottle collection and supplied numerous fresh seafood dinners. After a series of encounters with the bends, suffered while diving on various deep shipwrecks, Wally began his alpine adventures.

 Starting with sky diving for a couple years he subsequently joined the Seattle Mountaineers where he participated in many hikes, scrambles and climbs ultimately becoming a climb leader. During the winters, Wally always enjoyed downhill skiing and taught beginning skiing at Steven’s and Snoqualmie passes for years with Ski-Masters.

Wally is survived by his former wife Sylvia Gerst of San Jose CA and their three children; Karen White of Los Gatos CA, James White of Portland OR and Steven (Elaine) White of Bellevue WA, and three grandchildren; Douglas, Robin and Violetta. He is additionally survived by his former wife Lavita White of Kirkland WA.