Gone, not forgotten: Who we lost in Snohomish County in 2023

Published 2:10 pm Thursday, December 28, 2023

The passing of another year is a time to reflect on those we lost, as well as the lasting impact they left behind.

Of those who saw obituaries in the news section of The Daily Herald, their titles ranged from social media personality to coffee roaster to writer to photographer to mayor.

Here’s a look back at some of Snohomish County’s notable deaths in 2023. And here’s who we lost in 2022 and 2021.

Mike Carver, Snohomish parade spectacle

Carver made every day a parade. His red 1967 Ford pickup truck was a rootin’-tootin’ tribute to town pride and his Snohomish High School class of ’72.

Music blared from the truck’s 18 speakers, lights flashed and bubbles blasted from the tailgate as the man with the bushy white beard made the rounds around town on Saturdays.

People stood at attention to smile and wave.

The streets will be duller now. Carver died unexpectedly Feb. 3. He was 69.

Wayne Kruse, Herald outdoors columnist

For more than four decades when The Herald’s readers opened their Thursday sports sections, they’d find Kruse’s smiling face looking back at them, attached to a story telling them the weekend outlook for Snohomish County anglers.

Kruse’s influence in the local outdoors community was unmatched.

The Herald’s longtime outdoors columnist died Feb. 17 after dealing with multiple medical issues. He was 85. Kruse leaves behind a legacy of 43 years as the go-to source for information about fishing, hunting, clam digging and all kinds of other outdoor recreational activities in Snohomish County.

Cheryl Harris, Everett violist

There was always music in Cheryl Harris’ household.

She was a classically trained violist who dedicated decades to Everett’s youth symphony, philharmonic and symphony orchestra. A mother of four, Harris told her kids they could do whatever they want after graduating high school. But until then, they had to learn at least one instrument.

Harris’ impact on budding musicians extended far beyond her own children. She nurtured generations of students and their squeaking strings in Snohomish County.

Harris died Feb. 19. She was 73.

Gary Smith, Mukilteo coffee roaster

If you didn’t know Gary Smith, you would after stepping inside his cafe. He made an effort to greet everyone stopping by his establishment. Friends said he had the kind of positive energy that fills a room and was as friendly as he was witty.

Tucked away near Langley was Smith’s Cafe in the Woods. The social hub sat adjacent to a warehouse that served as the home of Mukilteo Coffee Roasters. Over the decades, Smith turned what began in the ’80s as an espresso cart into a coffee powerhouse, shipping beans around the world. He also owned multiple cafes around the greater Seattle area that were bought and sold over the years.

Smith died of cancer March 3. He was 69.

Ashley Morrison, ‘Youngest Old Cat Lady’

Ashley Morrison was known worldwide as the “Youngest Old Cat Lady.”

Her life centered around cat rescue, fostering, adoption and “spreading happiness through mini lions.” Her Instagram had playful kittens and her special brand of humor.

Along with cute kitties, there was another side Morrison shared with her nearly 250,000 Instagram followers on @youngestoldcatlady: Her struggle with mental illness.

Morrison died by suicide April 6. She was 31.

John McCoy, Tulalip lawmaker

Former state Sen. John McCoy — a Tulalip tribal member who often served as the only Native American voice in the state’s Legislature during his 17-year tenure — died June 7. He was 79.

After serving in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years, McCoy returned to Tulalip where he took over as the executive director of governmental affairs and managed the tribe’s business. He was instrumental in the founding of the Tulalip Resort Casino.

In 2002, McCoy, a Democrat, was elected state representative for the 38th Legislative District, representing Everett, Marysville and Tulalip, and served in that role until 2013 when the Snohomish County Council selected him to fill a vacancy in the state Senate.

As a lawmaker, he fought for tribal sovereignty, education and the environment. He was also key to the 2015 passage of a law requiring the “Since Time Immemorial” tribal educational curriculum in Washington K-12 schools. McCoy retired in 2020.

Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate

It became Stockton Rush’s quest in life to explore some of the deepest reaches of the ocean — and to make an industry of it.

The Princeton graduate cofounded OceanGate in Seattle in 2009. The company moved to Everett in 2015.

OceanGate’s five-person submersible Titan had a one-of-a-kind hull made of carbon fiber and titanium. The capsule undertook 13 dives to the site of the Titanic shipwreck from 2021 to 2022.

Rush’s ambition and sense of urgency was often hampered by red tape, bemoaning how he was “tired of industry players who try to use a safety argument to stop innovation,” according to a report from the BBC.

Then, the worst-case scenario became a reality on June 18. Less than two hours into a sightseeing dive, the Titan imploded, killing all five people on board: Rush, 61; the Titanic scholar Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77; British aviation tycoon Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48; and Dawood’s son Suleman, 19.

Apparent human remains were recovered in late June.

OceanGate suspended all activities in July.

Tom Vick, Evergreen Speedway photographer

Tom Vick touched lives in different ways.

Maybe it was the wedding ring on your finger or the photo of your race car or help at a fire. He was a goldsmith, Evergreen Speedway photographer and Snohomish County Fire District 7 volunteer firefighter.

Vick died July 21. He was 71.

He and his family operated Edmonds Jewelry for many years before opening Vick Jewelry Design in Bothell. They lived in Snohomish for many years, and spent every Saturday night at the Monroe track where Vick was the onsite photographer until becoming ill with cancer in 2019. He took thousands of photos throughout his career. After his death, Evergreen Speedway held a memorial lap in Vick’s honor.

Pete Kinch, Everett mayor

In his book, Pete Kinch called himself a “person of action.”

Friends and family say he was the kind of man who made things happen. It was a level of determination that in 1967 led him to help deliver a garbage can filled with petitions to Everett City Hall in protest of a new ordinance. Decades later, the activist was elected mayor.

His four-year tenure in the early 1990s saw further investment downtown and an increase in citizen involvement in local government, according to The Daily Herald’s archive. He was a well-liked man, but an unpopular administrator who weathered criticism for increasing city spending that contributed to a budget crisis. In recent years, Kinch was better known for his nonprofit work aiding impoverished people in Guatemala.

Kinch died Aug. 18 in East Wenatchee. He was 80.

Norma Joseph, Sauk-Suiattle tribal leader

Norma Joseph held a number of roles over the course of her life on the Sauk-Suiattle Reservation, north of Darrington. She served as a tutor, substance abuse counselor, social service director, language teacher, council member and council chair for multiple stints, totaling seven years. As a young adult, she helped write the constitution for the modern tribe.

For a few years, Joseph worked at Washington State University as a Native student coordinator. One of Joseph’s key missions in life was the recovery and education of the Coast Salish language Lushootseed.

Joseph also worked to build up the tribe’s Department of Cultural Resources. The department allowed tribe members to learn Lushootseed in the dialect specific to the Sauk-Suiattle people.

On Oct. 1, she died at the age of 76.

Mike Benbow, Herald writer, fly-fishing outdoorsman

Mike Benbow was a writer and outdoorsman, a fisherman and photographer. He could tie a fly as deftly as he could craft a sentence.

After four years at the Yakima Herald-Republic, Benbow was hired by The Herald in 1979 to report on Snohomish County government. For the next 32 years, Benbow would wear many hats — business reporter, city editor, outdoor writer, business editor.

After Benbow retired in 2011, he went on to contribute dozens of outdoor stories and stunning wildlife photos of herons, sea lions, birds and whales to the paper’s features and sports sections and quarterly magazine.

Benbow died Oct. 5 from leukemia. He was 71.

Jim Haley, Herald reporter

Jim Haley broke major stories over his four decades at The Herald. He also broke the mold.

He was known for his messy desk, scruffy beard and unabashed playfulness.

“How’s your bod?” he would ask anyone. Colleagues. Judges. Mayors.

He was constantly on the prowl for his next story and forever enjoying his life’s calling. Haley was 23 when he began reporting for The Herald in 1966. He retired in 2008, after writing about 18,500 bylined stories, covering crime, courts, the Navy and natural disasters.

Haley died Nov. 8. He was 81.