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.