WILLIAM H. LINDSAY

In the early morning hours of Monday, October 29, 2007, William Hugh Lindsay passed away peacefully, exactly 6 months after the unexpected death of his beloved Patricia Belle. 

Born in a Bishop, California mining camp on February 26, 1918 to William Rufus and Catherine Anne Lindsay, at the age of 7 he and his family moved to a remote fjord on British Columbia's glacial coastline to the company copper mining town of Anyox where he grew up between high mountains and the edge of the sea.

At 13, he went to work chipping paint on the decks of the Coastwise Steamship and Barge Company's ore-carrier “Griffco” which sailed back and forth between Anyox and the Tacoma smelter.  During the summers, Bill learned the tricks of the “wireless” radio trade, so when he went back out to sea chipping decks and the ships' Captain found his radio operator “indisposed”, he quickly called upon the young seaman and announced “I hear you can run the transmitter.”  From then on, Bill was hooked.

With limited educational opportunities available in Anyox, and the mining company covering the costs of tuition, his parents chose to send Bill and his younger brother, Jack to school at the New Mexico Military Institute where he graduated from High School in 1937. 

After graduation, Bill left for college at Washington State University.  A year shy of his degree, he decided to return to his first love, the sea.  World War II was upon us, and having lost an eye in his teens,  he found the United States Military wouldn't accept him, but the Merchant Marines welcomed him with open arms.  Like the other radio operators of the day, he became known as “Sparks”.

He survived WWII,  moved to Schenectady, NY to work for General Electric building transmitters where he married his first wife, Dorothy.  When she died in California in 1952, Bill once again escaped to the sea to drown his grief and lose himself in his broken heart.

During those years, he manned the radio room on thirty different ships – on junkers, tramps, passenger liners, and tankers all over the world.  He put into ports in North, Central, and South America – the South Sea Islands, the Orient, Asia, North Africa, Europe and the ports of the Mediterranean.  With no family at home, he adopted his brother's children as his own and sent them gifts and stories from every corner of the globe. No tale or trinket was too exotic when it came form “Uncle Bill.”

He spent the next couple of decades living his wanderlust, hiking the mountains in his off months, touring and camping, and romancing beautiful women in every port.  Bill had a tremendous admiration for the “fair sex” and adored women until the day he died.

After docking in Houston in the early seventies, 6 months of leave on his hands, and disgusted with the local climate, he headed North in his Pickup and camper to explore the Canadian Valleys of his youth.  On this trip, he stumbled upon a place he could finally call home – the Methow Valley – in the northern Cascades of Washington State.  There, he bought a piece of land outside of the “town” of Mazama and built a beautiful cedar Chalet under the pines and the shadow of Goat Wall.

In 1974, he found the one thing missing from his paradise – someone to share it with.  He found her, Patricia Belle Shomler, at a camper shop just down the river from his new home, in Brewster, Washington.  After a few years of convincing, Pat finally married Bill in the Summer of 1978.  He had found his “Viking Princess” and she had found her knight in shining armor. 

With Pat, came an instant family of 5 children, 3 of whom were grown, but the youngest two kids, Matthew and Michelle were still in school.  He taught them to ski, snow shoe, rock climb, and back pack into the high country.  The memories of those days will live on in all who shared them.

Bill and Pat enjoyed many years of hiking and cross country skiing in the crisp mountain air of the Methow Valley before they decided to move on to their new place on “Windy Ridge” in Ellensburg, Washington in 1986.  They traveled the world together after that, by air and by sea, with stops around the country to  visit friends and relatives.

In Ellensburg, Bill finally fulfilled the promise he had made to his father to complete his college education when, at the age of 71, he graduated from Central Washington University 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology.  Several years later, at the age of 78, he again graduated from CWU, this time with a degree in Economics.

During that time, Bill's daughter, Sara, reconnected with him.    With her, she brought her wonderful husband, Steve, and their two beautiful daughters, Chelsea and Camille.  After that, Sara and her family became a part of the “Clan Lindsay” joining Pat's children, Patty, Mike, Mark, Matt, and Michelle, their spouses, and all of their children.  Bill loved to dote on his grandchildren, but especially adored his girls.

After many fun filled years on Windy Ridge, Bill and Pat moved one last time to the more moderate climate of Fawn Lake in Shelton, Washington.  Fawn Lake provided them with a warm community of friends and a beautiful place where they could take their daily walks around the lake and relax.  It was the perfect place for their final days.

These two wonderful people, who loved each other above all else, have found peace together, once again.

From the Memorial for William H. Lindsay