Seattle 206-362-5200 fax: 206-365-0682 Directions • Email Us
Brier 425-483-0555 fax: 425-489-8977 Directions • Email Us
Bothell 425-486-1281 fax: 425-489-1556 Directions • Email Us
Snoqualmie Estates
Our newly developed Snoqualmie Estates, with its running creek and bubbling fountain, provides beautifully secluded and peaceful resting places that harbor quiet reflection and remembrance for generations to come.
The Sun Family Estate at Abbey View Memorial Park
Clinton Strong Harley
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.
Clinton served three terms in the State House of Representatives (1943-1945) and two terms in the State Senate, 43rd District (1947). He was chairman of the Appropriations Committee of each body. He was the first board chairman of the King County Hospital, chairman of the King County Planning Commission and was active in creating and directing the Laurelhurst Playfield and Beach Club.
He was a member and former director of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, as well as a founder and life member of the Seattle Yacht Club and a member of the Rainier Club, Nile Temple of the Shrine, Scottish Rite bodies, the University Commandary of Knight Templar and the Eagles and Moose lodges.
He was founder and life member of the American Institute of Banking, and had been a club president and director, district governor, international trustee and vice president of Kiwanis International, and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. In 1927, as the General Manager of Evergreen-Washelli, Clinton offered a large section of the cemetery for the burial of veterans and their spouses, thus establishing the first veterans’ cemetery in the Pacific Northwest. Clinton Harley was named the first honorary alumnus of the University of Washington.
He was a founder and past president of Seattle’s China Club, and was a great proponent of Sino-American friendship. The first president of the China Club was the venerable Thomas Burke, a former Chief Justice of the Washington Territory Supreme Court, who, as a private in the home guard, had helped fight off the mobs during the Anti-Chinese Riots in 1886. For his extensive work with the English Speaking Union, he was named by Queen Elizabeth an honorary officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Flag Day 2010
The American flag flies free – a unifying symbol of our nation that soars proudly above our homes, camp sites, small businesses, corporate offices, hospitals and schools. The U.S. Flag Code states that the flag “when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”
We are in need on 5’ x 9 ½’ flags for the Avenue of Colors in our Veterans Memorial Cemetery, as well as for retiring flags upon Veteran’s cremations.
You may donate by:
-Bringing in a flag for donation
-Donating any dollar amount towards the purchase of a new flag
-Donating $70 for a new flag in memory of a loved one
If you wish to donate a flag or funds to purchase them, please contact Brenda Spicer at 206.362.5200 or feel free to bring your donation by the office Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 8:00pm, Saturday to Sunday from 8:30am to 6:00pm. We will accept flags for retirement on Monday, June 14th, from 8:30am to 8:00pm.
Celebrating Our Great Nation
In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual ‘Good Turn.’ That memorial tradition continues to this day at over 5,000 veteran headstone markers at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, the ‘Arlington of the West,’ at Evergreen Washelli in north Seattle.
Since 1929, the entrance to the cemetery on Memorial Day and Veterans Day has been lined with America flags, an ‘Avenue of Colors.’ Those flags have been donated by the families, friends and loved ones of departed veterans who wanted the symbol of their cherished memory to wave proudly as everyone passed by on their way to participate in our traditional American observances.
The last time I donated a flag to the Veterans Cemetery was more than twenty years ago. That American flag was presented to me twenty years before that in memory of a fallen brother. I carefully marked his name in the margin with the date he died, and every year I’ve wondered which one was his as I passed. Each time I walk through that ‘Avenue of Colors’ I hold my salute and smile thinking my brother’s flag is waving back.
This year the Veterans Memorial Cemetery needs to replace many of the flags, including my brother’s. So, I bought a new flag, one that will last another forty years. Next week I will take it to Evergreen Washelli’s office so it can be used this Memorial Day. I will write his name again in small letters on the margin and the date he died. I will also donate another American flag in honor of Jim Hinde, a local Vietnam veteran, in honor of all Vietnam veterans who served and now are part of our collective heritage.
I urge all my veteran brothers and sisters, families and friends, to remember those whose memory you keep folded and in a glass case to donate American flags to Evergreen Washelli for the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Help make this Memorial Day more meaningful with a display of new flags. Help us keep our celebration shining in red, white, and blue memories of our love, our loss, and our freedom.
I look forward to seeing you on Memorial Day when we honor America’s fallen and salute the flags on our ‘Avenue of Colors.’ They represent hundreds of lives that still wave in the wind on special days.”
-Skip Dreps
Past President
Veterans Memorial Cemetery Board
William Kenzo Nakamura
Our guide, Skip Dreps, of Burien, Washington, was drafted into the United States Army in 1969 and re-enlisted twice before leaving military service with extensive spinal cord injuries following many airborne operations. During his military service, he was a medical non-commissioned officer assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group, 173rd Airborne Brigade, the 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team Allied Mobile Force (Europe) and assigned as a military advisor to NATO Headquarters in Shape, Belgium. His awards and decorations include the Combat Medical Badge, Army Commendation Medal, Master Parachutist Badge, and Aircrew Members Badge. He was also a graduate of the French Commando School and was awarded the French Parachutist Badge.
Following his military service he graduated from the University of Florida with a teaching degree in Secondary Schools and was an Upward Bound Instructor. He was recruited by the Paralyzed Veterans of America in 1984 and was trained as a National Service Officer. In 1997 he went to work as the Government Relations Director for the Northwest Chapter Paralyzed Veterans of America until September 2008. He was a Steering Committee member of the Garden of Remembrance, a memorial at the Seattle Benayora Hall that memorializes all Washington State sons and daughters killed in war since 1941. He served as a Board of Trustee to the Veterans Cemetery at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery for ten years. He was a member of the Seattle VA’s Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Care Committee and served on King County’s Americans with Disabilities Advisory Board.
He currently serves as a member of the Institutional Review Board at the Seattle Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Research Corporation at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. He has been awarded the Outstanding Veteran of the Year Award by the Governor’s Veterans Advisory Committee and Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, received the White Ribbon Award by the Washington Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities and was honored by both the Makah Nation and the Choctaw Nation for his work with the Native Americans Veterans Association. We are honored to have him as our tour guide this year.
Our guide, Skip Dreps
Skip will guide us through the history of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, as well as teach us about the stories of Private William C. Horton,
Captain Vesa Alakulppi, PFC Lewis Albanese, PFC William Kenzo Nakamura, 2nd LT Robert Ronald Leisy,
Colonel Orville Emil Bloch, as well as Coxswain Harry Delmar Fadden.
Kindly meet us at the Doughboy Statue in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 3:15 pm. We ask for a $5.00 suggested donation for attendance, which will go to the purchase of flags for the Avenue of Flags. For more information, and to reserve a spot, please call us at (206)362-5200 or email tours@washelli.com.
Volunteers helped clean the markers of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery
Very special thanks to Boy Scout Pack 4 and 34, Boy Scout Troops 12, 22, 112, and 312, Girl Scouts Troop 41399, the Seattle Nisei Veterans Association, the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, the Husky United Military Veterans, Shoreline Rotary, Shorecrest High School, Shorecrest Key Club, volunteers from Northshore School District, The Ballard Elks Lodge #827, SnoKing Chapter 423 VVA, KCYR, Snohomish High School MCJROTC, Mount Baker Council and King County Council members, and all of the other groups from our community that joined us in preserving and honoring our veterans. We appreciate you!
The markers were cleaned with D2 Cleaning Solution, an eco-friendly cleaner that does not damage the marble. Thank you to the Seattle Times, North Seattle KOMO news, KOMOnews.com, and the Bellingham Herald for joining us and covering the event.
Thank you,
Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park and the Veterans Memorial Cemetery Board
A Volunteer Opportunity to Honor Our Veterans
Saturday, April 17, 2010 from 10:00am to 2:00pm
Veterans Memorial Cemetery
On the east side of 11111 Aurora Ave N.
The Veterans Memorial Cemetery and Evergreen Washelli invite you to preserve a part of history. The Veterans Memorial Cemetery stands as a tribute to our nation’s fallen heroes. This tribute needs your help. We are seeking volunteer support from the surrounding community to help clean the historic white marble markers that identify the men and women who have protected our country. We will supply the brushes, buckets, and eco-friendly cleaning solution.
Your RSVP is appreciated, so that we may plan to have supplies for everyone. Kindly respond on or before April 10th by emailing us at veterans@washelli.com Please include the number of volunteers in your group.
Thank you,
Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park and the Veterans Memorial Cemetery Board
US Naval Academy Cemetery
The marker of John Sloane Barnes (Courtesy of Wesh's flickr)
After managing Portland in 1892, he played a key role in the reorganization of the Western League, which later became the American League, before devoting a decade to the promotion of physical fitness in China. A minor league baseball pioneer, he returned to this region in 1909 as the manager at Butte, Montana, and in 1915 operated the Aberdeen, Washington franchise. Born in Ireland, Barnes spent his final years in Seattle.
Marker placement: June 28, 2006, by the Northwest Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research
Join Us for the Spring Season of Evergreen Washelli's Guided Cemetery Tours.
These guided tours will explore the lives of notable persons interred at Evergreen Washelli Columbarium and Cemetery, as well as historical features at the memorial park. Join us in learning about the lives of Medal of Honor recipients, eccentric entrepreneurs, Duwamish chiefs, and the pioneers who built the city of Seattle.
Evergreen Washelli Cemetery tours are perfect for history buffs, civic groups, church groups, senior citizens, genealogists, and classrooms of all ages. Tours at the memorial park include Heroes and Dignitaries, K-5 Children’s Tour, The Arborists Tree Tour led by Arthur Lee Jacobson, and our self-guided walking tour.
We are currently seeking volunteers to attend and eventually guide these tours throughout the rest of the year. If you like history and love to give tours, please call (425) 483-0555 or email HMitchell@washelli.com if you are interested in becoming a tour guide.