Elmer Lowell Haynes
Passed peacefully on December 22, 2008 at Evergreen Hospital with his family by his side. Lowell was born September 28, 1923 in Colfax, WA to Virgil Walter Haynes and Helen Louise Pratt. When Virgil died in a farming accident in 1926, Helen took Lowell and his younger sister, Marion, to Cheney Normal School, then began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse on the Colville Indian Reservation. Helen, Lowell, and Marion lived in a partitioned room behind the wood stove. Helen took a teaching job in Pine City (near St. John) in 1935, and Lowell graduated from Pine City High School in 1941.
Lowell went to Tacoma to work in the Todd Shipyards. He met Evelyn Kathryn Keeney at the boarding house, and they were married April 3, 1943. He received his draft notice that same day, and fifteen days later was enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Because he was color-blind, he became a mechanic and served as a crew chief, working primarily on the B-17s.
Lowell returned to Bothell in 1946, where Evelyn and son Allen (1945) were living with her family. He drove truck for S&S Auto Freight hauling milk from area farms into Seattle in the mornings and delivering freight to local merchants in the afternoons. Bob (1947), Steve (1949), and Sue (1952) were born and completed the family unit. In 1952, with encouragement from local businessmen, he began operating the Union Oil “76” service station on Bothell Way, next to Ericksen Chrysler-Plymouth. In 1967, he moved down the highway into a new station at NE 180th and Bothell Way, which was Union Oil’s first five-bay facility in the Seattle area.
Lowell was active in the community and supported all types of youth activities. He served on the Bothell City Council and/or Planning Commission from 1960-1986. In fact, the coffee pot on the work bench in his station became known as “Little City Hall.” He never missed a Bothell High School athletic contest or musical event, and continued attending long after his children had graduated. Lowell was a charter member of the Northshore Rotary Club. He was a life member of Ashler Lodge #121 and a past worshipful master. He was a founding trustee of the Northshore Scholarship Foundation. He was a “patriarch” for many in the Bothell/Northshore community. He was firm but fair, generous, and loved a good practical joke, hunting and fishing, and his family. He was predeceased by his parents (Virgil and Helen) and his son (Steven). He is survived and will be greatly missed by Evelyn, Allen (Carol), Bob (Kathy), Sue Jundt; sister Marion Carney; grandchildren Jennifer Suckut (Todd) and Heidi Morris (Dan); great-grandchildren Trent and Josie Suckut; and fifteen nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 10, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. at the Bothell United Methodist Church (next to Bothell High School).
Remembrances may be made to the Northshore Scholarship Foundation (c/o Keeney/Haynes scholarships), P.O. Box 173, Bothell, WA 98041.
