Glenn Victor Bandy

Glenn Victor Bandy

Glenn Victor Bandy, of Ellensburg, passed away on November 21, 2023, after a brief illness and a wonderful life. He was 67. Glenn was born on November 28^th, 1955 to Samuel Earl and Jutta Bandy. He joined his older sister, Brenda, completing the family.

Growing up in the South Sound, Glenn started getting out in the mountains, on snowshoeing trips with his sister and his brother-in-law Bill. Still in high school, Glenn convinced his Mom to allow him to drive (on school nights) from Tacoma to Bremerton to take the Spring Mountaineering course at Olympic College.

After graduating from the University of Puget Sound, Glenn left the “dark side” (Western Washington) in 1979 and moved to Ellensburg. He loved the sunnier and drier weather. Glenn sought the high places. Skiing, climbing and hiking were his passions. He took advantage of all the opportunities Washington’s mountains presented. He was proud to have been a ski instructor with the Junior Nordic Program at Snoqualmie Pass for 32 years, teaching his own kids to ski, in addition to countless others. He met his wife Pat, a North Carolina native on a PT travel assignment, when she signed up for ski lessons with the Ellensburg XC Ski Club. Glenn was President of the Ski Club.

In Glenn’s opinion, Ellensburg and vicinity was pretty much perfect. He loved telling the town’s story and giving tours to visiting friends and family. Glenn was very knowledgeable about local history. In fact, he authored a Kittitas County history pamphlet for Fitterer’s Furniture to celebrate the store’s 100th anniversary. When CWU had an Elderhostel program, Seniors from across the US learned about the natural and human history of the area from Glenn.

He was well traveled and spent the summer after college graduation touring Europe with a Euro-Rail pass. He spoke conversational German, inspired to study it by his German Mom, Jutta. He loved Italy (it was cheaper). A favorite story was sneaking into a construction site in the Florentine Hills after workers left for the night. He climbed some scaffolding to a high place, laid out his sleeping bag and slept, waking to catch the morning sun as it illuminated the city of Florence.

Glenn’s superpower was remembering names and faces, and being able to make friends with anyone, anywhere. He was genuinely interested in other peoples’ lives. Glenn loved to find out where people were from, then applying his knowledge of geography and history to come up with a little factoid about their home. He did this everywhere he went, right down to his last days in the hospital, where he impressed the wonderful people who cared for him. During his illness, Glenn discovered Worldle, a geography game. He was pretty good at it.

Glenn was a loving husband to his wife Pat. Out of all of the adventures Glenn had, he was most proud of his journey as Dad to his children, Jack and Mckenzie.

If the measure of a man is the number of lifelong friends in the picture, Glenn was a giant. Glenn never forgot the reach out to his family and friends with a birthday phone call. The legions of friends who joined Glenn on his climbing and skiing adventures, or just spending time with him, will never forget the experience.  Glenn felt privileged to have a life so full of peak experiences and great companions, including his snow-beast ski dogs, sweet Ariel and the late Levi.

In our hearts we know that Glenn has gone to a high place. He’s gracefully carving turns on Fortune Mountain, watching the morning light on his beloved Mt Stuart.

A celebration of Glenn’s life is being planned at a later date.