UPCOMING: Medal of Honor Tribute Ceremony
Please join us in honoring our Medal of Honor and Silver Star recipients on Saturday, July 16th at 11:00.
Evergreen Washelli is proud to have in our care several Medal of Honor Recipients. Please join us on July 16th to honor them at a special ceremony. We pay tribute to these Medal of Honor and Silver Star recipients on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and we are now creating a permanent marker that will tell each medal recipient’s heroic story. This permanent tribute is our way of thanking each medal recipient and their families for their selfless and courageous service to this country. On July 16th, the ceremony will take place in the Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery located within Evergreen Washelli and begins at 11:00am with guest speaker to be announced. For more information, please click here.
Medal of Honor Recipients
As part of Evergreen Washelli’s Tribute to the Medal of Honor and Silver Star recipients in our care, we invite you to discover more about the lives and service of each brave soldier. Below are the obituaries of each recipient, please take a moment to read their stories and sign the guestbook. On Saturday July 16th, please join us in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery located with Evergreen Washelli to honor these medal recipients at a special ceremony.
     
Founding Father Clinton S. Harley
This month, we would like to recognize our founding father of the Evergreen Washelli Company, Clinton S. Harley (1878 – 1966).
Clinton Strong Harley was the founder and chairman of Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park Company; he also served as a politician in the House of Representatives and the State Senate. Clinton S. Harley was born in Deshler, Ohio to Clark Clinton and Janet Strong Harley. Clinton served in the Spanish American War in 1898. Afterwards, his family moved to Seattle in 1905; a few years later they moved to Bainbridge Island, and in 1924 to Laurelhurst, Washington. Around this time, he married Laura Collins Potter. Clinton established the Tenakee Fisheries Company, one of the early Alaskan salmon canneries, during World War I.
In 1919, he founded the Evergreen Cemetery Company. The Evergreen Cemetery Company acquired Washelli cemetery in 1922. Clinton was the first chairman of the Washington State Cemetery Board. He also had been president of the Washington Interment Association of Cemeteries and president and director of the Western Cemetery Alliance. To read more about Clinton Harley, please click here.
Remembering Black Sunday
June 19th, 1966. This day in history, now forty-five years ago, marks the darkest day in hydroplane racing. In the 1960’s, hydroplane racing in Seattle was as popular as NASCAR is today. During the President’s Cup, three of the sport’s most popular drivers perished on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Traditionally, the championship winner of the cup would receive a trophy from the president in a post-race ceremony; not so on Black Sunday. The horrific circumstances of that day resulted in a turning point for the sport—which ultimately lead to safer, faster boats. The Miss Bardahl came to be the “grandmother of modern hydroplane design.” New improvements, such as an enclosed cockpit, have increased the safety for hydroplane drivers. The sport of racing hydroplanes still plays a major part in the Seafair events here in Seattle. The impact was indelible on the Seattle area, and the drivers who lost their lives racing were well loved and still remembered in the area today. To learn more about hydroplane racers Ron Musson, Rex Manchester and Don Wilson, please click here.
Husband’s Death, Father’s Death
A Story by: Christine Thiele
Five years ago, my kids’ dad died from pancreas cancer. At the time, I did not know what it was like to lose a parent. Both my parents were still living. They were still married to each other and seemed pretty content.
All that changed a few months ago. My dad died. Around last Thanksgiving, he was diagnosed with lung cancer…with bone involvement, so it was pretty serious. He decided to take on treatment and fight this cancer. He definitely had ups and downs, and we could all tell he was slowing down. Slowing down…not stopping.
He did his best to fight a disease that is pretty horrible. I watched my husband die from another pretty horrible cancer. It can bring out the best and the worst in people all at once. For my children and me, this was not our first major tragic event. For my mom and my siblings, it was one of the worst. They saw a disease robbing them of someone they love dearly. It would change their daily being. I know of this a bit…my life was first changed by disease and then shaken and turned upside down by the death of my husband.
So my story is different than theirs…as all our stories of loss are different. When my husband died, my story was different than my kids’. Even now as I reflect on the past months and my father’s death, my experience is very different that that of my children. To read the rest of Christine’s story, please click here.
Our 85th Annual Memorial Day Service
On Monday, May 30th, 2011, Evergreen Washelli hosted our Annual Memorial Day Commemorative Service. Thank you to all who joined us in honoring America’s fallen and saluting the flags on our “Avenue of Colors”.
Below are photographs from the 2011 ceremony, flag placement and also the Medal of Honor Tour. We were fortunate enough to connect with Sharon Kircher Alakulppi, wife of Silver Star recipient Vesa Juhani Alakulppi, by chance on Memorial Day. She spoke to the Medal of Honor tour group, and we cannot thank her enough for her time and her stories.
Evergreen Washelli is on Facebook
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