Topic: Biographies
Washington Territory’s De Tocqueville is an apt description for Father Louis Rossi, a Catholic missionary priest who ministered for just over three years, from 1856 to 1860 in Washington Territo...
Bob Royer was one of Seattle's deputy mayors from 1978 to 1983, working closely with his brother Charley Royer (b. 1939), who served three terms as the city's mayor from 1978 to 1990. Their mayoral ar...
The careers of Charles T. ("Charley") Royer spanned journalism, politics, and civic activism – sometimes independently and sometimes in concert. He served three four-year terms as mayor of Seatt...
Bill Ruckelshaus played a wide and varied role in American political and agency history during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1970 he was nominated by President Richard Nixon (1913-1994) to become the first ...
When Ginny Ruffner moved to Seattle in the mid-1980s, she had already mastered the lampwork technique that would make her a celebrity among art-glass devotees. Her distinctive style of glass sculpture...
Merrilee Rush was among the most popular homegrown singing stars that the Northwest rock 'n' roll teen scene produced during the mid 1960s. Her trademark low voice and comely looks and an exciting sta...
James S. Russell grew up on American Lake in Pierce County, where he developed a love of sailing. After graduating from Stadium High School in Tacoma at age 15, he tried to join the navy but was turne...
The history of Tacoma cannot be told without the story of William Rust. Born into a Quaker family in Philadelphia, he ventured West with dreams of finding fortune in the gold rush. Using the skills an...
James M. Ryan, known in Seattle as "Mr. Downtown," was first president and then chairman of UNICO Properties. UNICO Properties manages the 10-acre parcel of property in the heart of downtown Seattle ...
A pioneer of Seattle public television and legendary figure in radio history, Milo Ryan was responsible for discovering and preserving a forgotten cache of some of the most important radio news broadc...
Seattle restaurateur Patricia McGuinness Ryan was the long-time proprietor of the Denny Regrade's popular Two Bells Tavern. Under her management between 1982 and 1999, the Two Bells became a neighborh...
In 1882, Olive "Ollie" Ryther and her husband Noble Ryther, parents of four children, adopted four orphans. Ollie Ryther vowed to never turn an orphaned child away. She founded Seattle's Ryther Home a...
Born in Seattle, James Y. Sakamoto became one of the leaders of the local and national Japanese American community during the critical era just before and after the start of World War II. He was a fou...
Painter and enamelist Lisel Salzer was born August 26, 1906, into a well-to-do Jewish family and grew up in Vienna. She began drawing as a girl and studied art at the Vienna Art Academy, graduating in...
Jennie Samuels (1868-1948) was deeply involved with the Women's Club Movement in Washington. She founded the Nannie Burroughs Study Club in Everett, and was an early executive member of the Washington...
Marine Corps aviation pioneer Lawson H. M. "Sandy" Sanderson (1895-1979) was born and grew up in Shelton, Washington. He became a Marine Corps pilot at the end of World War I and in the following year...
Bob Santos, born and raised in Seattle's Chinatown-International District, spent most of his life as an activist in his old neighborhood -- saving it, nurturing it, defending it against outside threat...
As a treaty-rights activist and tribal entrepreneur, Robert Satiacum's influence and notoriety spread far beyond his Puyallup Tribe. He was first known as a local athlete and then, along with family m...
A Seattle resident since 1972, Norie Sato is a multidisciplinary visual artist. Sato has worked in various mediums including printmaking, video, sculpture, terrazzo flooring, and glass. Her long caree...
The visionary behind Washington's esteemed Red Willow Vineyard is Mike Sauer (b. 1947), a farmboy from Toppenish who studied agricultural economics at Washington State University. After marrying fello...
Pioneering heart surgeon Lester R. Sauvage's first career goal was to become a Major League baseball player. His forceful mother insisted that he focus on his education instead. He entered medical sch...
J. Willis Sayre was a longtime resident of Seattle -- a journalist, arts promoter, and local historian whose work spanned more than five decades during the city's most explosive period of growth and d...
Paul Schell was a politician, attorney, developer, and urban planner who helped guide Seattle's transformation from a medium-sized city into a vibrant metropolis. Born, raised, and educated in Iowa be...
Viennese-born Fritz Schmidl, lawyer, social worker, and author of numerous articles on social work, law, and applied psychoanalysis, arrived in Seattle with his wife, child psychoanalyst Dr. Edith Bux...