Best and Worst of 2014: In Memoriam

Oso
A simple wooden sign on a towering evergreen—one of only a few still standing along this barren stretch of Highway 530 in Snohomish County—marks the instant the world turned upside down for the tiny town of Oso. In March, a devastating mudslide claimed the lives of 43 people in a matter of minutes. A heroic recovery effort and a tremendous outpouring of generosity followed the disaster, as well as questions and recriminations (more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the state), but the most lasting impression will be Oso, Arlington and Darrington citizens standing tall and brave—through it all—like this steadfast tree.

Paul Schell, 76, Seattle’s 50th mayor, died on July 27 after undergoing heart bypass surgery at Swedish Medical Center. A graduate of Columbia University law school, he moved to Seattle in 1967 to take a position at the Perkins Coie law firm, but soon began his own legal practice. Schell’s political career in Seattle spanned more than four decades: He was a citizen activist long before running for office and, while president of Allied Arts, was influential in saving Pike Place Market from redevelopment in the 1970s. As mayor from 1998 to 2002, he led the successful Libraries for All bond campaign that funded a new downtown library, and his long-term support of public art, parks and community centers is evident across the city in landmarks such as the Olympic Sculpture Park, Woodland Park Zoo and the opera house at Seattle Center.

Billy Frank Jr., 83, activist and outspoken proponent of tribal rights and environmental issues, was a member of the Nisqually Tribe known for his bear hugs and charming profanity. Arrested more than 50 times for “fish-ins” to protest the U.S. disavowal of 19th-century treaty rights, he has been called the Mandela of the Pacific Northwest. First arrested at age 14 for fishing on the Nisqually River, Frank was the face of the “fish wars” of the ’60s and ’70s, and the civil rights movement for treaty rights. After a federal judge affirmed the treaties in 1974, Frank continued his political activism on behalf of a related concern: He became a spokesperson for issues of climate change and ocean acidification that would threaten local populations of salmon and steelhead he worked to protect. (Crosscut posthumously honored Billy Frank Jr. with a lifetime achievement award.)

Carolyn Kizer, 89, was a feminist poet who explored—often with biting wit—the effect of human relationships on personal identity. Kizer studied at the University of Washington with Theodore Roethke and Stanley Kunitz, and won the Pulitzer Prize for her work in 1985. She helped found Poetry Northwest in 1959, for which she served as editor until 1965.

Ken Schram, 66, was a 35-year veteran KOMO Radio and TV and KIRO-FM talk show personality known for his humorous and often provocative commentaries. Recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award and numerous Emmy Awards, he was known to dole out awards of his own: his tongue-in-cheek “Shrammies” were unsolicited honors he gave to local businesses and individuals for “asinine behavior.”

Justice Robert Utter, 84, served as Washington Supreme Court justice from 1971 to 1995 and chief justice from 1979 to 1981. A proponent of individual rights, he resigned in 1995 in protest of the court’s treatment of death penalty cases, which he saw as being out of proportion to the crimes committed. In his resignation letter, Justice Utter wrote that he could “no longer participate in a legal system that intentionally takes human life.”

Sher Kung, 31, was killed while commuting to work by bike along Second Avenue in downtown, days before the city installed protected lanes on the dangerous route. She was a lawyer with Perkins Coie and had worked on the ACLU’s trial team in western Washington to successfully challenge the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and to ban dismissal based on sexual orientation.

Harry Hoffman, 61, was the driving force behind the creation of Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, Seattle’s largest urban farm and wetlands restoration site, which helps to provide food security for low-income families. He also served as executive director of the Housing Development Consortium, through which he worked to expand affordable housing options near transit stations.

Bill Strothman, 62, longtime KOMO-TV photojournalist, and GARY PFITZNER, 59, helicopter pilot, were killed near the Space Needle in a helicopter crash caused by mechanical failure. Strothman had earned numerous Emmy Awards for his work in the Pacific Northwest, and Pfitzner, a frequent pilot for KOMO as well as a composites expert building planes for Boeing, was respected for his keen ability to put photographers in the best aerial position to document the local news.

John Stamets, 65, photographer, recorded Seattle’s development boom and the city’s changing skyline in the ’80s, including photos of the construction of the Seattle Art Museum and the EMP Museum and, perhaps most famously, the 1987 collapse of Husky Stadium.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN OUR BEST AND WORST OF 2014. SEE MORE FROM THIS STORY HERE.