Walter Joseph Stolle

Walt “Pappa” Stolle, age 92, passed away Sunday, December 10, 2017, with family by his side. Born at home on August 24, 1925, on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Walt graduated from St. Anne Parish School in 1939 and Queen Anne High School in 1943, and was an Eagle Scout. Still short of his 18th birthday at graduation, Walt’s mother had to accompany him to the recruiting office to sign the papers allowing him to join the Navy in 1943. Walt served in the Pacific in WWII and was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1946. After leaving the Navy, Walt attended Seattle University on the GI Bill, graduating with a degree in business and finance in 1950. Walt married Rosemary Kelly in 1951 at St. Anne Catholic Church in Seattle. They raised six children, all of whom survive him except the youngest, Nancy, who died in an accident in 1986. Walt enjoyed a lifelong love of the outdoors, and was an avid fisherman, hiker, camper, and skier, and was a founding member of the Forelaufer Ski Club. He nurtured the same love of the outdoors in his children and grandchildren, whether on weekend or weeks-long camping trips across the western U.S, Alaska, Canada, and Mexico, or later sticking closer to home at their camping club lot in Goldbar. He taught all of his children to hike, camp, fish, and ski and continued all these activities until a heart attack at 77 slowed him down just a little. For many years Walt worked as a weekend ski instructor and taught drivers education courses. Walt was a career insurance adjuster, specializing in fire and inland marine losses, and was President of the Seattle Claims Adjusters Association (SCAA) for 1985-86. Walt retired in 1988 from Safeco Insurance. He always said he enjoyed field adjusting because it allowed him to work outdoors. He enjoyed a long and prosperous retirement. He and Rosemary traveled extensively across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, China, and Thailand, and towed their fifth-wheel south every winter to ride out the colder months at camping clubs in the Palm Springs area with occasional side trips to Arizona and Mexico. Walt will be long remembered for his devotion to family, his active faith, and his sense of humor and positive disposition. Walt is survived by Rosemary, his wife of 65 years; their grown children Mary Ann Bartholomew (Marion), Kelly (Yuriko), Sheila Lair, Kevin (Sandy), and Steven (Susan); grandchildren: Aaron Bartholomew, Erika Stolle, Breeana Lair Milani (Nic), Ingrid Stolle Walshe (Kev), Scott Lair, Shannon Lair Kelly (Waylan), Jennifer and Michelle Stolle, Noelle Stolle, Samuel Stolle, and Jack Stolle; nephews William “Bill” Morse and Michael Morse, and niece Corkie Morse Hosking (Dave); his other more distant relatives, his surviving friends, and fellow ushers, and his fellow volunteers at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Knights of Columbus. A Viewing and Prayer Service will be held at Beck’s Tribute Center, Edmonds, on December 18 at 11AM, followed by Burial at Holyrood Catholic Cemetery. A Memorial Mass celebrating Walt’s life will be held at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Lynnwood, on December 29, 2017, at 11 AM.