William Wicks Mather

William Wicks Mather passed away May 16, 2017. He was born to Helen and Max Mather at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Washington, on November 15, 1930. He attended Hutton Grade School for eight years before moving to Lewis and Clark High School where, as a senior, he captained the AAA 1949 LC State Champion Basketball Team. Beaten only once in 15 regular-season games, the LC Tigers were awesome in the tourney. In the final game, four of the starting five players scored in double figures. That club is still regarded as one of the best ever to compete in state play. Bill received basketball scholarship offers from several colleges. Fortunately for him and all of us, he chose the University of Idaho, for it was there he met and married his beloved Patti. He told us, “If I hadn’t received the ‘ride,’ I might never have attended college at all!” Thank you basketball… Bill was a Lieutenant in the Air Force from 1954 to 1959. He served as a hospital administrative officer at Larson Air Force base in Moses Lake, Washington. Desiring to use his education degree, he left the Air Force to become a teacher, guidance counselor, and basketball coach in Chewelah, Washington, from 1960 to 1965. During this time, he earned a Masters of Education in Guidance Counseling from Eastern Washington State College by attending during the summers. The final year of his studies, 1965-66, he took advantage of National Defense Education Act grant to attend the Guidance Counseling Institute at Washington State University. The following year, Bill was hired as guidance counselor at Olympia High School, where he served until his retirement in 1992. Bill gave 26 years of dedicated service to his students, his community, his colleagues and his profession. He served as an example of excellence and caring in all he did. And he worked! Summer vacations were occupied with a variety of part time jobs. He was a men’s clothing store clerk, park department lawn mower, spot welder, forest worker, lumber mill worker, gas station attendant, truck driver, basketball referee, policeman, pulp mill worker, painter, and hospital porter. Bill was tall, dark and handsome. He could dance and he loved to sing. Patti knew she’d found the one when, while dancing together, he began to sing and she discovered that he could hold his own when she joined him in harmony. Singing became an integral part of the Mather household. Car trips never involved the radio – the whole family sang all the way. Even walking down the street, if a tune occurred to one, the other(s) joined right in. After Patti joined Sweet Adelines in 1960, Bill later followed her into barbershop, and even sang as part of a quartet. A life-long athlete, Bill enjoyed not only basketball, but racquetball and running. He excelled at them all. He was a member of the Tumwater Valley racquetball club for 18 years, and he ran regularly, competing in 10,000 meter races well into his 50s. Bill maintained an ordered approach to life. He was organized. He was a careful planner. He kept notes on everything. (For example, with highlighter in hand, he would read and re-read all instructions cover to cover before even touching any new device.) Though sometimes teased about it, this quality served him well. His meticulous approach and steady dependability were qualities that all around him came to appreciate and rely upon. Bill’s sense of humor was life-giving. No matter how tense or upsetting the circumstances, Bill found ways to exploit them for laughs. There was no pun so awful, no shaggy dog story so groan-worthy, that he wouldn’t indulge. The best was when he’d break himself up. His laugh would go up an octave, he’d bend forward hands-on-knees, and the tears would flow. The rest of us cracked up even if we hadn’t heard the joke. He was just a delight to behold. Another way to make the tears flow was to play or sing music in close harmony. If the chord “rang,” it could choke him up. Music touched his soul. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, and his darling daughter, Vicki. He is survived by his wife, Patti (Cameron), with whom he shared 67 years of love, laughter and song; son, Kip (wife Debra); son, Scott (wife Diane); six grandchildren, Marci, Kyle, Brian, Craig, Kinsey and Kellen; and four great grandchildren, Kyler, Cameron, Lydia, and Kyan. Also surviving are his brothers, Bob and Dick. The following wonderful autobiography was written by Bill in July of 2012, at the request of his children, and is shared by the family with all of you. You may share your memories and/or condolences at the end of the autobiography. I was born in the Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Washington on a Saturday at 9:15 am on November 15th, 1930. My 23-year-old mom had been a stenographer and my 30-year-old father was secretary- treasurer of his father’s laundry. They had a house built on Cedar Street almost at the crest of the hill where High Drive begins. They had to give it up though, due to the depression so we moved to a place on E. 20th, just one block from Manito Park when I was three years old. Everything was so different back then from what it is today. It was a simpler, more innocent time. Without television our world was essentially our neighborhood and our school. Of course we had radio and the newspaper but kid programs and comic strips didn’t really contribute much to my awareness of the rest of the world. When I think about it, that was a real plus. Outside influences didn’t direct our behavior. We made our own fun: climbing trees, building forts, playing softball in vacant lots, kick the can or hide-and-seek after dinner until dark. It was a great time to be a kid! It was a safer time and as a result, we had the freedom to grow. Although my grandparents on my father’s side lived only a mile away, I didn’t see them often and as a result, don’t recall much. I do remember their home had a musky smell and it seemed dark inside. I remember dark blue velvet drapes, a round tubular pillow, butter cookies on a tile kitchen counter, and a red quilt my grandmother made with my name and the date 1939, hand sewn along the border. My grandfather died when I was seven. I really only remember him from pictures. He was a tall, good looking man originally from Pennsylvania, and his name was William, just like mine. He owned the Cascade Laundry in Spokane. I wish I could have known him in my growing up years. My grandparents on my mother’s side, Ole and Anna Wicks, lived thirteen miles south of Spokane on a farm where my family used to gather on a regular basis. This was about the only socializing we did as a family. My mother was one of nine children so somebody always showed up at the old homestead for dinner on Sundays. Oddly enough, there were only three of us cousins and I was the youngest and the only boy at that time. It was always two against one and I was always part of the two. There wasn’t much left of the farm outbuildings due to a major fire earlier. We kids had a lot of fun there, playing in the hayloft, feeding the chickens and watching grandpa doing the milking. Times there were not always without their trauma however. I remember being with Grandma in the chicken house when she caught and beheaded our dinner. The dust and noise in that small, confined area was more than this city boy was ready for. My experience with the horse wasn’t much better. Upon mounting my worthy steed, it immediately turned and went back into the barn. Had I not leaned over, I would have been scraped right off his back. I’ll spare you my adventure with the cow, but I’ll tell you it had nothing to do with the milking. I believe the novelty of having a child for a father began to wear thin sometime during my pre-school years. Thereafter, there really wasn’t much family stuff going on. I only remember a couple of one-on-one outings [with him] and they ended in disaster. Mom, on the other hand was always there for me – warm, sweet, loving and my salvation on many occasions. I attended Hutton Grade School which was seven blocks from home. I can still remember running to and from; I never walked and it seemed effortless. Later I got my first bike, an orange, narrow-tired model. This was the exception in those days as everyone had the ballooned-tired kind. I would come home for lunch and hop off, letting my bike bang into the dog kennel attached to the rear of the house. That bike was indestructible, as was the dog kennel, evidently. It’s interesting how various incidents come back when attempting to share my early years. I always thought of myself as a good kid but I’m afraid I had a little “Dennis the Menace” in me, too. For instance, the Bright’s lived right next door, ten feet away, and the lady was so nice to me. She would bring me stamps for my collection from various places they traveled. Guess who took it upon himself to squirt oil all over the side of their house and another time, to throw mud on the sheets hanging up to dry in the back yard. I had no idea what my motivation could have been. Unbelievable!!! In my early years, Mom took me sledding at Manito Park. There was a big hill there, or so it seemed at the time. It had to be pretty big because we would slide for almost two blocks. Have you ever gone fishing off your front porch? Yep, Mom again. She had me all fixed up with a pole, some string and a folded newspaper on the end that served as a fish. Big stuff!! Great memories!! I guess I should mention about here just how we came to have a swimming pool in our backyard. I dug it all by myself! As I recall, it was about a foot deep and the size of a kid’s swimming pool. There must have been consequences for that little escapade, but I don’t recall any. I didn’t start first grade until I was seven. Mom took me on that first day. Shortly after she returned home I was coming in the back door. I had to go to the bathroom. Being unfamiliar with the school building, I just took off for home. That was the same year I got my first kiss. It was during recess with the prettiest girl in our class. I remember all us boys would fight to be the one to help her put on her galoshes in the cloak room. Some things never change, even in the first grade. I went through all eight grades with the same kids at Hutton Elementary. I remember I had my first fight and broke a window in my classroom while playing softball in the 3rd grade. There was an obstacle course that was carved out of a wooded area just off the play field. (This was during World War II). We ran it often for fun, even though the object, of course, was for physical fitness. As I got older I began making model airplanes, powered by rubber bands. One had a four foot wing span which I set on fire, “emulating” a dog fight with a friend and fellow model builder. I was into reading and trading comic books about this time, too. I can remember having a stack on each side of me, those I’d read on one side and those I hadn’t on the other. This drove my dad nuts!! Several of the kids I went to school with at Hutton were from wealthy families. I didn’t realize it much at the time until I attended one of their birthday parties. The chauffeur picked us up in a limousine and the servants conducted the party. I remember the prizes awarded for the games made the presents we brought look rather small. Like some of my friends, I became a newspaper boy. Over the course of several years, I had three different routes and a magazine route before that. Good experiences. My regular summer employment began at age 14 when my father signed me up for “Blister Rust Control Camp”. (He lied about my age, telling them I was 16). I ended up fighting fire that summer. I remember once we had to abandon the fire line we were making because of the advancing flames and start a new one. I had my first taste of coffee on the fire line that night. Our primary job was that of fighting a White Pine disease in Northern Idaho. We did this by eradicating certain plants that acted as transfer agents between diseased and non-diseased trees. We lived in tents, and there was a cook shack, bathhouse and latrine. I continued this employment for the next five summers. The first year I was classified as a laborer, the next, a crew leader and for next four, I was a straw boss. As straw boss, I had a one and a half ton truck and twelve men I was responsible for. In the fourth grade, something happened that would shape the rest of my life. I discovered basketball!!! A few of us would gather at a friend’s house where a backboard and hoop were attached to a tree in the half-lot next door. A lot of underhand shooting was going on, as I remember, due to the height of the basket and the size of the participants. Years later, I played in an eighth grade YMCA Christmas Basketball Tournament where I caught the eye of my future high school basketball coach. The next year I was placed on the Lewis and Clark High School varsity squad as a freshman. Much later I read in the school newspaper that this had happened only one other time in the schools’ history, ten years prior. We won the Washington State championship in 1949, my senior year, a perfect time for being noticed by recruiting college coaches. Of the offers I received, I chose the University of Idaho which awarded me a four year full-ride athletic scholarship. Although we won our share of games, we never won our conference, but we did have some great non-conference games. For instance, we played the Harlem Globe Trotters and the Phillips 66’ers, an industrial semi-pro team, at home. The most memorable was at Madison Square Garden in New York City. I was a sophomore that year and started the game on the bench but after a short time the coach sent me in and I made the first five shots I took, all from what is now a “3 point range”. Aside from the game itself, that trip represented several “firsts” for me. I had never been east of the Idaho panhandle, never been on a train which we took all the way from Portland, Oregon, never been on a plane which we took home to Spokane. AND, our team was treated to a trip to Atlantic City where we got to promenade on the famous boardwalk there. During my sophomore year at Idaho, I met a freshman girl from Lewiston, Idaho named Pat Cameron. We lived a block apart on campus and happened to have the same science class, where I first noticed her. I decided to give her a call, which I did, but found that she was “dated up” for the next three weekends! Persistence paid off, however, and soon I was completely smitten!! At the beginning of my junior year she accepted my fraternity pin, (an engaged-to-be -engaged tradition). This was rewarded by a traditional “tubbing” at the hands of my Fiji fraternity brothers, (I was tied to the flag pole and hosed down), and being “rescued” by my girl, that Kappa Alpha Theta who lived down the street. I can’t recall if we even figured out how we were going to manage, but we decided to get married at the beginning of my senior year. Patti volunteered to discontinue her enrollment and she sought and obtained employment at the U. of Idaho bookstore. My financial contribution wasn’t all that great, as I continued to be a full time student. Fortunately, my enrollment was virtually paid for. I did receive some quarterly compensation for my participation in the Advanced Air Force ROTC program, and although I don’t recall the amount, I received the Dean’s Scholarship for academics in my senior year. We had a car, (a ‘41 Buick), and a place to stay, (a one- bedroom basement apartment), and we couldn’t have been happier. At the close of the 1952-53 school year, following graduation ceremonies, we headed for Lewiston. I had a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, a Commission as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force, a wife who was expecting any day now, with no money to speak of, but we had a plan!!!! Thanks to Patti’s folks, Clint and Anna Mae Cameron, we had a place to stay until we could get established. This was fortunate as William Scott Mather appeared on the scene approximately two weeks after Commencement ceremonies. I needed temporary employment until my “active duty” orders arrived, which we assumed would be soon. As it turned out, that didn’t happen until approximately eight months later. During that time, I had three different jobs: first at the Potlatch Forest Mill, then at a Standard service station, and lastly, at a men’s clothing store. At the Potlatch Forest Mill, I worked swing shift as an off-bearer on a planer. Three men would walk off the platform when I arrived, leaving me to replace them. Even though I was young and in good shape, I still got behind from time to time. I’ll spare you the comments of the man who ran the planer when I’d turn off the conveyor belt and the boards would pile up!! Hearing of an opening at the local Chevron Station, and having prior experience in Spokane, I quickly made a job switch. I became quite proficient with the use of tire irons when fixing flat tires and I remember I was reluctant to learn how to use the new “tire changing machine” when it was installed. By this time, Patti and I were living across the river in Clarkston, Washington on the top floor of a three story “walk-up”. As winter approached, I was offered a sales job at Jack Lee’s Gentleman’s Apparel store from which I departed for “duty” the following spring. I reported to Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama on March 15th, 1954. I was supposed to be there for six weeks, but because of a miss-assignment at the University of Idaho, I was given another specialty code which called for a sixteen week training period instead! Upon completion, I was assigned to Larson Air Force Base in Moses Lake, Washington. After fulfilling my two year obligation, I went on indefinite status, terminating my service three years later. While we were there, Patti gave birth to our second and third children, Vicki Jean and Kip Cameron. We decided to move to Spokane, my hometown. After spending a week settling down in our south hill rental, I decided that just maybe I should look for employment. Over a period of approximately a year and a half, I was employed in two sales positions: one in insurance and the other in grocery products. Although I survived, I decided to look for something for which I was better suited – a coaching and teaching job. I applied for a teaching certificate and began inquiring around as to what was available. While helping to put on a pancake feed with Kiwanis, (as an employee of General Mills), I learned of an opening in Chewelah, Washington. They offered me a position of a Junior High teacher and High School Jr. Varsity coach in basketball. My second year there I was offered a guidance counseling position with the understanding that I would begin taking college courses to become certified. And so I began a “5th-year” Masters of Education program at Eastern Washington State College in Cheney, Washington during the summers. I had a variety of jobs to supplement my teaching and coaching during our five years living in Chewelah. I helped with the baseball program for little kids, refereed high school basketball for two years in Stevens County, drove water truck and was the Sunday Cop for one year. Chewelah was a great place to raise a young family and I enjoyed hunting and fishing for the first time while there. Then, after having applied three times, I was accepted into a counseling institute program sponsored by the National Defense Education Act, at Washington St. College in Pullman, Washington. Participants were given a stipend to attend. So, for the school year 1965-66 we moved to Pullman, Washington. (The summer prior I again worked at the Potlatch Mill in Lewiston, this time as a “binder”, because the stipend funds didn’t begin until school started). I lived with my sister-in-law, Beverly, in Lewiston during the week and came home to my family in Pullman for the weekends. After passing my orals and receiving my Master’s Degree, Patti and I drove to Western Washington seeking employment. I interviewed at Issaquah, Tacoma and Olympia. Of the three, I had two offers. We chose Olympia. While the kids finished the school year in Pullman, and Patti wound up her employment obligations at the WSU Bureau of Correspondence Courses there, I secured a rental home in Olympia. It was actually a parsonage for the Free Methodist Church which happened to be vacant and available. A stately two story elegant home with sheers, (curtains), cloth wall paper and oak beamed ceilings, it was quite a contrast to the “married housing” we’d had in Pullman, perched on a hillside with an oversized dog-door for a rear exit! Until we moved in, I was living in the basement of a friend while working off the “call board” at the Olympia Employment office. I will never forget my first day at Olympia High School. There was a welcome back ceremony in the gym. The enrollment was greater than the entire population of Chewelah!!! I was just a wee bit overwhelmed. Little did I know that I was to spend the next 26 years of my working life at this school. Although I was hired as a counselor, I also taught math and physical education for a number of years as well. After a year of residing in the church parsonage we purchased our first home on the east side of Olympia. It was there that Scott, Vicki and Kip completed their elementary and high school education, and that Patti and I became most active in our avocational pursuits. We joined a dance club which was comprised mostly of teachers. The club held dances at a local hall several times a year. Patti and I also took Disco dance lessons that a couple gave in their home! I usually filled my summers with some kind of employment including driving truck for the city, painting for the school district and janitorial work at St. Peter’s Hospital in Lacey, (a suburb of Olympia). Patti continued her involvement in Sweet Adelines, which she had begun back in our Chewelah days. In the early 70’s, I became involved in Barbershop Harmony as well by joining the men’s group called the Puget Sounders. The two groups would band together to put on an annual show that was held in a theater downtown. I even sang in a quartet for a time. Still can’t believe I did that! Next, at the ripe old age of 43 I joined the YMCA. Up until then my physical exercise consisted of occasional long walks, often accompanied by my son Kip. Two years later I dropped the YMCA to join the Tumwater Valley Racquetball Club where I ran, worked out and played racquetball for the next 18 years. I entered many “fun runs” of five to seven miles during my late 40’s. One in particular I remember, as we ran from Northgate Shopping Center to the Kingdome, right down the middle of the 1-5 freeway in Seattle. Upon finishing, Patti and I were allowed to stay and watch a Mariners game for free. In 1977 we purchased our next home at 2013 Swanee Circle. It was also in Olympia, off of a cul-de-sac on four tenths of an acre. The backyard was so big I was able to plant several poplar and birch trees and Patti and I constructed an island where we planted fir trees and bushes. Many special events, including Kip and Debra’s wedding, and Anna Mae’s 90th birthday celebration took place at this location. One accomplishment of mine was building a fence, including three gates, around the entire perimeter. Twenty six years later, in 2003, we moved to our present location at Eagle’s Landing in Tumwater. Having finally reached the age of “senior discount eligibility”, we figured it was time to find a place with minimum upkeep. Patti and I are both retired at 5262 Bald Eagle Lane S.W. I’ve left out all the “juicy parts” in order that this history will get by the censors. Hope you’ve not been too bored. Love to you all, Bill July 29, 2012 Please leave memories of Bill or condolences for his family in the Guestbook below.