Walt was a learner and was passionate about many things. One of his greatest loves was music. I met him when he practiced in a garage band next door to my house in 1966. He was 15. Our high years were spent at band rehearsals and gigs where he played Beatles cover music. We saw all of The Beatles in concerts over the years and he listened to a Beatle album every night. His favorite was Abby Road. We met Harry Chapin at a concert at the WSU gym where he played acapella. Walt loved his ballads. We also saw John Batdorf at a concert in college and he followed him and his music for 50 years. John played at a house concert for us. His favorite band was the Allman Brothers Band and considered himself a Grateful Dead deadhead. He recently went to see Joe Banamassa in concert and felt he had experienced the greatest guitar player alive today.He became an avid guitar collector and polished, tuned and played a different guitar every day. He made sure all of his guitars were tweaked by famous luthier Mike Lull. He loved going to his shop. During the pandemic he built a few guitars with Fender parts and he really enjoyed that detailed work. He learned to play Ukelele and his greatest joy was playing Uke with his granddaughters. He always carried guitar picks in his pockets for good luck. 

His fascination with the Civil War was an all-consuming passion. He had an extensive library of battlefield notes and books. He took his grandson William to Shiloh and shared his love of the Civil War with him. He returned to Shiloh recently with his close friend Barry. He received a letter from a friend written by a Civil War soldier, Ora Slate. He was passionate about his pursuit of information about him. He said he could spend the rest of his life in cemeteries. He loved the history there. He supported the Civil War Battlefield Trust. He bought our burial plots a few years ago in the Woodinville Pioneer Cemetery. He loved the significance of being buried there with the founders of Woodinville.

Walt was an officer in the Tyee Triumph Club for 20 years and made deep and meaningful friendships. He enjoyed being  part of this community and the activities and events that were planned. He had a right hand drive standard wagon that he imported from England. He loved driving it around town, any day that it didn’t rain. He took 7 years to build his Standard 10. He had the engine in our laundry room and the car spent a lot of time at Britsport. It’s something he always wanted to do and was proud of the end results. He drove it for several years and was in a few parades. In the last few years, it was like a trophy on the mantle in his garage. He even hung a chandelier above it and put down flooring in the garage  to showcase it. In the early days we went to most events and car shows.

Walt loved photography. He got a small inheritance in 1978 and bought a Nikon camera. He became an accomplished photographer and shared his skills and love for photography with Brendon and Zach. He learned a lot from his Chrysalis field trips with John Shephard and his photo excursions in Florida with Dave Bush. Here are a few of his favorite photos.