An Extraordinary Life: Wilfred R. Woods

An Extraordinary Life

Wilfred R. Woods 1919 - 2017

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Sunday, March 12, 2017

An Extraordinary Life

My dad inspired a culture of contribution ‘Time and tide wait for no man,’ wrote Geoffrey Chaucer.

Wilfred Woods, Chairman of the Board, Wenatchee World in 2011.

By Rufus Woods

Publisher The World

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ime ran out for my father, Wilfred Woods, February 11 after 97-plus remarkable years of life, love, achievement and contribution. He embraced death as he embraced life — wholeheartedly, without reservation or fear.

The enduring image I have is of him striding briskly from our office in downtown Wenatchee, past the Numerica Performing Arts Center that he loved so well, to our production building on Ninth Street to get his daily newspaper hot off the press. It was a daily regimen until his health started declining a few years ago.

His nine-plus decades of life serve as a model for how a human being can live in this world and leave it a better place. What he experienced and accomplished was astonishing.

He was a voracious reader who

soaked up knowledge and synthesized it so that anyone could understand complex subjects. He was a world traveler who was near Tiananmen Square when violence erupted in 1989, witnessed the Berlin Airlift after World War II, and visited dozens of countries and invited Wenatchee World readers along to share in the experience.

With my mother Kathleen, they left an indelible mark on the music and arts scene in North Central Washington, going to countless concerts and recitals and providing financial support to numerous organizations.

Dad was a devoted skier and outdoorsman who thrilled at the opportunity to take folks into the backcountry to experience the grandeur of the Cascades and the fellowship of good company.

As a columnist for more than half a century, he was a master of saying much in few words about the numerous topics that interested him. He always left his readers wanting more.

He was a man of enormous generosity to his family, his friends and the community. He was a devoted father, husband and grandfather. Everything he did was in service to others — an example of civic leadership and generosity that encouraged others to make sacrifices for the greater good.

He walked the talk and fostered a culture of contribution that lives on.

World photo editor Don Seabrook put it best when he wrote that dad loved everyone and everyone loved dad. Dad cared about people as human beings and was always more interested in what they had to say than imparting his own wisdom.

In every aspect of his life, he was interested not in reliving the past but in discovering “what’s next,” a wonderful life practice that could benefit any person who chooses to adopt that mindset.

World file photo/Mike Bonnicksen

Rufus Woods and Wilfred Woods in front of The Wenatchee World press in 2013.

World file photo/Don Seabrook

Wilfred Woods celebrates his 90th birthday at The Wenatchee World in 2009.

In his 80s, he took cross-country skate skiing lessons, a sport that requires tremendous balance and agility.

Just last winter, he wanted me to take him skiing again but his balance made that impossible.

Perhaps the best way to describe his approach to life is the phrase “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”

Seemingly insurmountable obstacles to others were just minor challenges to dad.

Those of us who remain are basking in the afterglow of his ascendant spirit.

With the passing of Wilfred Woods, it is the end of an era. We were indeed fortunate to bear witness to this blazing comet as it illuminated our sky.

Now, it’s up to us to pick up where

he left off and march confidently into the future with that same sense of optimism, hope, determination, fearlessness and community purpose.

Our family is grateful to Dr. Fred and Ann Deal for their steadfast support and help in dad’s final days. Our families have been connected for seven decades. We are also grateful to the hospice staff for the tender, caring support in his final days. And we also want to thank Dr. Michael Fadich, his physician, for the wonderful care in his last weeks.

Dad loved parties, and so we planned a community celebration in his honor and invited everyone to stop by and share in the festivities. This was truly a life to celebrate.

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Community Foundation enabled T Wilf and Kathy’s philanthropy

Local leaders Give 10

A recent study showed that if, over the next 10 years, everyone in NCW left 10 percent of their estate to the foundation, there would be $14 million each year to support charitable work in our region.

Imagine what could be accomplished if we joined together to make this program a reality. We could, with our own resources, solve pressing community issues — providing additional support to enhance the arts, address social issues such as getting every child ready for kindergarten, funding college scholarships, to name just a few.

We could, as a region, become a model for the country for creating resilient communities and fund World file photo/Don Seabrook it ourselves. This sense of self-reliance, creativity and Kathy and Wilfred Woods, active in running The Wenatchee World for more than 60 years, received innovation builds on the the third annual Legacy Award in March 2014. The lifetime-achievement honor is sponsored by spirit of leaders like Wilfred the Wenatchee Valley Business World and the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Woods and so many other leaders who have taken the initiative to do great things in our Central Washington — a donor-advised

By Rufus Woods valley — building dams, the Numerica fund for personal giving as well as the Publisher Performing Arts Center and others that Woods Family Music and Arts Fund, The World enhance our way of life. which provides more than $60,000 in Community philanthropy means grants annually to support the arts in giving everyone an opportunity to North Central Washington. aking the community a better Wilf saw the Community Foundation participate. It doesn’t matter how much place to live for everyone was money you make or how much you as a catalyst for continuous commuthe life-long passion of Wilf give, just that everyone gives somenity improvement. The Community Woods. thing. The Community Foundation Foundation exists to help individuals In his columns for The Wenatchee manages over 400 individual funds that and families make contributions to the World, he engaged readers in explorindividuals, families, and organizations community that will last forever. Each ing local history, geology and the arts have established to support our region. individual fund is tailored to meet the as well as exploring topics of science, You don’t have to be a millionaire to be charitable dreams of the donor, and is technology and culture. a philanthropist. Most of the foundainvested with other foundation funds As a civic leader, he championed nufor growth. The fund continues to grow tion’s donors are business owners, merous civic improvement efforts, such over time, allowing gifts to be made teachers, nurses, orchardists… ordinary as the development of the Numerica people, giving a little something. beyond one’s lifetime.

Performing Arts Center, Wenatchee Whether you give today, or leave The Community Foundation is Valley College’s Music and Arts Center, now working on launching its most something after you’re gone, anyone and the Icicle Creek Center for the can be a philanthropist with the Comambitious community-building effort Arts. munity Foundation. yet called “Imagine,” a campaign to As philanthropists, Wilf and Kathy You don’t have to imagine a better encourage as many people as possible Woods established two funds at the community, you can be part of creating to consider leaving 10 percent of their Community Foundation of North one. estate for community improvement.

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he Give10 initiative by the Community Foundation of North Central Washington encourages individuals and couples to give 10 percent of their wealth to local nonprofits to make a powerful difference in our community forever. Here are two examples:

Beth (and David) Stipe Targeted giving: supporting parks, land conservation, education, animal protection “When I was young, my parents were both ill. Our neighbors, friends and perfect strangers brought meals, helped around the house and plowed our driveway in the winter. That was my first taste of philanthropy. That experience has greatly impacted my life.

Both David and I have strong feelings about sharing our resources to make our part of the world a better place, both during our lives and after we are gone. Our giving will reflect all the things we have loved in life – parks, trails, open space, education, rescue animals and a vibrant community. It gives us great joy to know that after we are gone we will still be able to make an impact: FOREVER!”

Dr. Chris Stahler Targeted giving: Supporting music, arts, land conservation and education “This community has been very kind to us, it’s a wonderful place to live. Anything we can do to enhance it seems worthwhile. My IRA is set up so that after my lifetime, the remainder of the funds will be designated to several organizations — including the Community Foundation. I’ve been on the foundation’s board and have always enjoyed the site visits to other organizations who’ve applied for grants.

I’ve had a Donor Advised Fund for years. I like it because you can have all your charitable giving in one spot and the foundation does the work of distributing it. You don’t have much to fuss with at tax time, it’s all straightforward. Giving appreciated stock enables me to give more to what I deem important, and less to Washington, D.C. ”

To learn more about the Give10 community initiative, visit cfncw.org/give10

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An Extraordinary Life

1919-2017

Wilfred Woods, publisher and civic leader, dies Champion of arts, culture and all things outdoors

By Mike Irwin

World staff writer

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ilfred R. Woods died Feb. 11 at age 97, ending his nine decades of wandering the world and wondering tirelessly about how it worked.

Preferring the nickname “Wilf,” the newspaperman, family patriarch, avid outdoorsman, art philanthropist and expert whistler died at home from complications of old age and new ailments. Arthritis in his knees had slowed him in recent months to finally allow heart and pulmonary conditions to catch up.

A globe-trotting reporter, columnist and former publisher of The Wenatchee World — the newspaper his family has owned since 1907 — Woods regularly touched the lives of thousands of readers and North Central Washington residents through his writing and passionate interests in art, music, theater, history, travel, politics, science and the creative people who made those happen.

Praise for the nonagenarian poured in from arts, business and civic leaders around the Northwest.

Wenatchee’s Pybus Public Market flew the flag at half-staff in Woods’ honor.

Woods’ passing brought an end to his brand of old-style reporting that bore personal witness to events that, through the decades, stunned the world and rocked the region.

He reported first-hand on the Berlin Airlift (1948-49), Beijing’s crisis at

Photo provided / State Senate photographer Aaron Barna

Wilfred Woods receives the Medal of Merit award in Olympia in January 2009.

Tiananmen Square (1989) and the rise of oil powers in the Middle East (1970s and 80s). Back home, his NCW beat produced stories on sweeping economic and social transformations that turned sleepy Central Washington into a hydroelectric and agricultural force.

“All I’ve got to say,” he told a reporter in 2014, “is that I’ve lived in interest-

ing times. I’m thankful for that.”

Big headlines aside, Wenatchee World readers likely know Woods for his frequent front-page column, “Talking It Over,” and his gee-whiz inquiries into topics that fascinated, delighted or irked his probing mind.

Subjects ranged from the highly personal (childhood memories, the death

of his father Rufus Woods) to political endorsements (Henry “Scoop” Jackson for U.S. senator in 1952) to musings on downhill skiing and the opening of Mission Ridge (1966).

In the last decade, Woods often focused his column on everyday incidents and situations. Recent writings questioned the use of anti-bacterial

An Extraordinary Life

World file photo//Rick Steigmeyer

Wilfred Woods joins Kim Breilein in a rousing version of “Oh, Susannah” around the campfire during a Wenatchee World Trail Hike in 2004. soap, touted a Japanese brand of lessfatty beef, detailed the domestication of dogs and postulated that Almond Roca is the best-tasting candy. His last column, dated Dec. 12, enthused over new exercises to soothe his arthritic knees.

Woods’ rampant curiosity was perhaps most evident on a recent tour of his Wenatchee World office, where on the walls Native American artworks mixed with African textiles; a desktop was covered in magazines about archaeology, physics, forestry, the economy and world politics; and books — filling shelves and stacked high — included titles on Sicily, Lawrence of Arabia, war in the Pacific Islands, vintage trains, the importance of non-conformists and dozens of other topics.

Almost every workday and many weekends, Woods ambled to his office — most recently using a cane with a built-in flashlight — for long periods of reading and writing interspersed with naps. He alerted newsroom staff of his arrival by whistling sprightly tunes and sometimes burst into song.

He often led rousing renditions of “Happy Birthday” at office parties celebrating employees on their birth dates.

His penchant for the outdoors surfaced regularly in his front-page writings. A sampling of his adventures included hiking in the mountains west of Kathmandu, Nepal; 40 years of hikes and pack trips into the North Cascades with members of the Courtney fam-

ily in Stehekin; hitting the state’s ski slopes in 1935, years before rope tows and chairlifts were common fixtures; skiing at Stevens Pass in the 1930s — before completion of Highway 2 in 1939 — when it meant most people up there were from the Wenatchee Valley.

Born in Wenatchee on Sept. 30, 1919, Woods was the newest addition to a newspaper family headed by his father and firebrand publisher Rufus Woods, a fierce advocate of development in North Central Washington and a key proponent of the building of Grand Coulee Dam and development of the Columbia Basin Project.

As a boy, Wilf Woods had a penchant for exploration and adventure, a curiosity about the world that stood him well in the family newspaper business. He also demonstrated a talent for music that helped spur his lifelong interest in all varieties of tunes and compositions.

His first job at The World was swatting flies in the newspaper’s production room. With no air-conditioning, the heat was unbearable in the room, he said, so windows remained open and the flies buzzed in. “I was very young,” he recounted three years ago, “but I learned that the job was important because the flies were simply awful. A detail that needed tending to.”

During high school, Woods signed on as an apprentice typesetter and printer. He used those skills after graduation to learn stereotyping, a form of hot-type printing, when unionized printers walked off the job in an

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Kara, then Rufus, followed

by Gretchen. “After that, I was a full-time mom,” said Kathy.

The decades to follow — the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s — were industrious times, Woods noted in a later interview. Alcoa built its smelter in Malaga, water flowed for the first time in canals of the Columbia Basin ProjWorld file photo ect and dams were under construction by the Chelan Undated photo of Wilfred Woods covering a news story. and Douglas county public utility districts. argument with World management.

“The dams were the lifelines for “I learned stereotyping the hard our growing orchard industry, from way,” he said, “I dove right in and apWenatchee to Oroville,” Woods said. plied myself.” It was a learning model “These dams did for our apple-growhe followed for much of his life. ing regions what Grand Coulee Dam Woods attended three years of coldid for the Columbia Basin.” lege before the start of World War II. In 1997, Woods retired as publisher He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and to serve as chairman of the newspaper served more than three years (1942-46) company’s board of directors. His son at Edwards Air Force Base in CaliforRufus took the helm and has run the nia as a sergeant of clerical duties for newspaper since. one of the military’s first jet groups. He After newspapering and family, then returned to college — the UniverWoods’ primary love was music and sity of Washington — and graduated in arts. In 1974-75, he helped organize 1947 with a degree in history.

Friends of the Music and was active He immediately returned to with the group for 15 years in bringing Wenatchee to work as a World rechamber music to the area. porter, duties that included coverage In the 1990s, Wilf and Kathy created of NCW’s devastating floods of 1948. the Woods House Conservatory of Later that year, he was accredited as a Music in Wenatchee, and later sang foreign correspondent and embarked with the Columbia Chorale (Wilf as for Europe. He lived in Paris, learned bass, Kathy as alto) and in the Lake a smattering of French, and sent many Chelan Bach Fest. dispatches during two years overseas.

During those years, Wilf Woods In 1950, while visiting hydroelectric helped form a coalition to fund and facilities in Toronto, the elder Rufus build the Wenatchee Performing Arts Woods suffered a debilitating heart Center, played a major role in estabattack and died in that Canadian city. lishing the Icicle Center for the Arts Wilf Woods immediately inherin Leavenworth and promoted the ited the paper and served as editor construction of the Wenatchee Valand publisher for 47 years. “Luckily, I ley College Music and Arts building, also inherited a really good crew who which includes the Grove recital hall. could basically operate the paper until Even in his 90s, Woods strode each I learned the ropes,” he said. day 1.5 miles from his office to The In the following year, he met Kathy Kingman, a native of Chelan and office World’s production plant. There, he’d fetch that day’s freshly-printed edition worker for the Lake Chelan Chamright off the press to be one of that isber of Commerce. He asked her on a sue’s first readers. date — a long drive and short hike to A reporter once asked Woods — the top of 7,440-foot Slate Peak near then 95 years old — if those daily Mazama — and then to a Wenatchee walks were the secret to his longevity, Chiefs baseball game. if they helped ward off the inevitable “Imagine those as your first two date with death. He admitted that the dates,” she laughed. “I knew there was walks kept him fit and alert, but that something different about this guy. I they also got him outside in all kinds saw something in him.” They dated for five months and were married Dec. of weather to see what the world had 1, 1951. They celebrated their 65th anto offer that day. niversary in December.

As for dying? “That’s life,” he chuckThe Woods had three children — led. “That’s the way life goes.”

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An Extraordinary Life

Wilf through the years

Provided photo

From the 1937 Wenatchee High School yearbook.

World file photo

During U.S. Army Air Corps school in Florida in 1944-45.

World file photo

Undated photo of Wilfred Woods with his father Rufus Woods.

World file photo/Don Seabrook World file photo

Wilfred Woods and sculptor Lynn Coy with a bust of Wilfred’s father Rufus Woods about 1960.

New presses arrive at the new production facility of The Wenatchee World in September 1999. Rufus and Wilfred Woods stand next to the first two units to be installed.

World file photo/Kelly Gillin

The Woods family at The Wenatchee World’s 100th year anniversary celebration in July 2005. They are, from left, Alyssa Woods, Gretchen Woods, Carolyn Ollikainen, Kathie Woods, Barbara Woods, Wendy Manhart, Kathy Woods, Wilfred Woods, Rufus Woods, Kara Hunnicutt and Kellen Manhart.

World file photo World file photo/Mike Bonnicksen

Leading a tour of Grand Coulee Dam in 2009.

Wilfred, Kathy and Alyssa Woods ride in the Grand Marshal car, a Ford Model T, during the 2011 Apple Blossom Festival Grand Parade.

An Extraordinary Life

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World file photo

During a trip to Europe in 1954 with Jim Albertson.

World file photo

Ski jumping.

World file photo/Don Seabrook

In front of the Woods House Conservatory of Music in Wenatchee in 2007.

World file photo/Mike Bonnicksen

Wilfred portrays his father Rufus Woods in “People of Our Past,� a program at the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center in 2013.

Photo provided

At his 94th birthday party at the Numerica Performing Arts Center.

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An Extraordinary Life

Working (whistling and laughing) through the decades

World file photo

Wilfred and Rufus Woods work with a page of lead type in 1940.

By Tracy Warner

Editorial Page Editor

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he tireless builder, selflessly dedicated to the welfare of his home region and the state of Washington, a skilled journalist and communicator, a lifelong lover and promoter of music, the arts, nature, history, geology, science and education.

Wilfred Woods was all those things and more.

Wilfred was 47 years publisher of The Wenatchee World, a position suddenly thrust upon him with the unexpected death of his father in 1950.

Wilfred sometimes said he saw his family business, a small regional daily newspaper, as a blessing, a stroke of good fortune, a tool that put him in the position of accomplishment. He proved through ceaseless effort that he was adept at both running a growing newspaper and using the platform it offered as leverage for the common good.

“I had the opportunity, thanks to a business that allowed me the opportu-

nity, to serve Central Washington and the state of Washington, with the help of my wife Kathy,” said Wilfred during a laconic summation of his life’s work, while accepting the Washington Medal of Merit before the state Legislature in 2009. “As we look down at opportunities for state and local people to participate, I hope our next generations have the same opportunity, and the education and cultural advantages that help make the state of Washington the great state it is today.”

During Wilfred’s era as publisher, the power of the Columbia was harnessed, the desert bloomed to produce food for millions, industry arose, transportation expanded and the region prospered as never before. Wilfred had a hand in nearly every major development. He used the newspaper to promote public power, transportation and the use of the region’s plentiful natural resources. He served on the board of the American Forestry Association, the state Parks Commission, Washington State Historical Society. He served as trustee for Central Washington Uni-

versity and was a steadfast backer of Wenatchee Valley College. A lifelong skier, hiker and outdoorsman, he was instrumental in the founding of the Mission Ridge ski area and organizing group trips deep into the North Cascades wilderness.

A great lover of music, he established the Woods House Conservatory of Music and continues to support music and arts education through the Woods Family Music and Arts Fund.

He led the coalition to finance and build the Wenatchee Performing Arts Center, and without his personal support the world-class performance hall would not have been built. He was instrumental in launching the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, building the Wenatchee Valley College Music and Arts Center building and The Grove recital hall.

Wilfred R. Woods was born in Wenatchee, Sept. 30, 1919, to Rufus and Mary Woods. An older sister, Wilma, 2 1/2, and brother Walter, 1 1/2, had died tragically in 1913 after drinking tainted milk from a local dairy. He was raised with sisters Willa Lou and Kathryn “Kay,” mostly in the family home at the corner of First and Buchanan streets, two blocks west of The World.

Wilfred said his childhood was happy, free and idyllic, in a family headed by his celebrated pioneer publisher father. Rufus Woods in 1907 took control of the tiny daily newspaper at a dusty stop on the Great Northern Railway, gained international fame as the inventor of North Central Washington, the great booster, the bane of moneyed interests and the original supporter of Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Project.

Wilfred Woods took work at The World offices at age 11, swatting flies that came in through open windows.

In 1937 he was promoted to apprentice printer, at a salary of $12.50 per week, but his unionized coworkers walked off the job and he learned the intricacies of the trade largely on his own. The newspaper’s paid circulation was then 11,392. It would nearly triple by the time he stepped down as publisher.

Wilfred graduated from Wenatchee High School in 1937, studied at the College of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and served in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1946 with the first jet-powered squadron at Muroc Field in California.

He returned to graduate from the University of Washington with a degree in history in 1947. He worked as a reporter and photographer for The World, covered the devastating 1948 floods, then left for Paris to study French and work as a foreign correspondent. He covered the Berlin Airlift in 1949.

In May, 1950, Wilfred was with his family in Toronto, where his father was consulting with executives of the provincial hydropower system. Rufus Woods suffered a heart attack crossing a Toronto street and died. It was only then that Wilfred learned his father had named him the majority stockholder of The World and its publisher.

Wilfred stayed in publisher’s position until 1997. His newspaper served readers from the Canadian border to southern Grant County, from the Lincoln County wheat fields to the Cascade Crest, an area greater than the state of Maryland. Circulation rose from 15,000 to 33,000 in his tenure. At times more than 90 percent of households in the Wenatchee area were subscribers, among the highest penetration rates in the country.

Wilfred teamed with his cousin Robert Woods, editorial page editor, and a team of carefully chosen executives to build the business. Wilfred several times shunned lucrative corporate offers for The World, preferring the newspaper life and the opportunities it brought him. To this day it remains one of the last family-owned and independent newspapers in the state and nation. Wilfred often attributed his success to his family — wife Kathy, daughter Kara, son Rufus, and daughter Gretchen. He was an outspoken, loving spouse, father and grandfather.

Wilfred designated himself as “a working fool,” which he often said every newspaper needed. No one who worked at the newspaper would deny the accuracy of that self-description.

An Extraordinary Life When not traveling, Wilfred was a fixture, his morning arrival announced by his unashamed, joyful whistling.

Nearly every sentence was punctuated by his trademark, loud staccato laugh — “Ha, ha.” He would often walk up to an editor’s or reporter’s desk, smile and simply ask, “Well?” When satisfied by the answers and updated on employee family news he would retire to his cavernous, book-lined office and bat out his near-daily front-page column, “Talking It Over.”

The percussive sound of Wilf’s preferred manual typewriter danced over the drone of the newsroom computers well into the digital age. His column was quick, readable and updated readers on every imaginable topic — history, geology, politics, economics, music, literature. He wrote tens of thousands of columns, not ceasing until his last days. He often reported discoveries made during his insatiable reading. His intake was astonishing, often measured in books per week. He never stopped.

His curiosity was unbounded and he possessed a sharp, analytical mind and archival memory unto his final hours.

His personal interests covered history, archaeology, science, research and politics. He was a keen student of regional geology and was fascinated by the ice age floods. Well into his 90s he would lead tours of the Grand Coulee, making note of its unique geology and ending at the magnificent dam his father championed.

Wilfred’s career as publisher coincided with boom years for the region.

Chief Joseph, Wells, Rocky Reach, Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams were built. Public power brought industry, including Alcoa. The Columbia Basin Project brought water to the Central Washington farmlands. The apple industry centered in his city flourished.

“Everything was popping during those years,” Wilfred said in an interview in 2014. “Dams, orchards, formation of the PUDs, highway improvements, railroad lines, the Hanford (nuclear complex) was going full swing — pretty exciting stuff.”

Wilfred met and married Chelan’s Kathleen Kingman in 1951, and his three children soon followed.

At The World, circulation and reach

The publisher as we knew him

By Tracy Warner

Editorial Page Editor

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have told this story so many times I can’t recall if I ever put it down here, but with the passing of our chairman Wilfred Woods, I feel compelled to describe the view from his employees.

It was my first day as an employee of The World, precisely 40 years ago on the 21st day of March. I had been told to arrive in the newsroom promptly at 7 a.m. to take up my duties. I got off the elevator, walked into the second floor at 14 N. Mission, and was greeted by the managing editor who had interviewed me two weeks before. “Can I help you?” he asked.

Shocked, I mumbled, “Um, you a, you told me to come to work here.”

Oh, it’s you, said the managing editor. It was an inauspicious debut, until

a man in a graying mustache grabbed me by the elbow. “Ho, ho. Let’s take the tour. Oh boy!” It was whispered in my ear that this welcoming man was the publisher Mr. Woods, known to all as Wilf, whose family had owned the newspaper since the first Roosevelt administration and, like any newspaper publisher, had the power of life and death over all he surveyed. I had worked here for five minutes and I was riding the elevator with the publisher to go look at the printing press.

To say this was in contrast to my previous employment is an understatement. At those places, the newspaper owner worked at corporate headquarters in some other state. Publishers were big wheels who spoke to reporters only when necessary and to

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grew. Wilfred oversaw the conversion from hot metal to offset printing, publication in color, digital layout and typesetting, expansion of building and property. The World’s staff more than doubled. With business manager Jack Watkins, they created an employee profit sharing trust which provided for a comfortable retirement for hundreds of employees. Wilfred was known for his employee relations, and the result was a staff of workers reluctant to leave.

He stepped down as The World’s editor and publisher in 1997, turning leadership duties over to son Rufus and taking the title of chairman of the board.

While Rufus led the newspaper, Wilfred showed no signs of waning interest in the endeavor. He was at the office nearly every day, writing and reading, walking the 1.5 miles to the printing plant to take a copy of the day’s edition off the press. He skied and hiked vigorously until recently. He was a fixture at every community musical event of import. He often spoke with pride about the business and musical

accomplishments of his children. His daughter Kara runs a strings program in Ellensburg and is an accomplished cellist who performs regionally, and daughter Gretchen is The World’s human resources manager and a gifted violinist with the Wenatchee Valley Symphony.

Wilfred was awarded Washington’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Merit, in 2009. He and wife Kathy received the Legacy Award from the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce.

“Sometimes I am asked why I didn’t sell the paper. People know I received many offers,” Wilfred told interviewer Andy Dappen in 2005, during The World’s centennial year. “It comes down to a matter of journalistic pride.

I’ve helped build a good paper and I am proud of it. I don’t think selling would produce a better paper — I believe the opposite is true. I’m also committed to making the region a better place to live. We are blessed that this is such a wonderful place to work, play, live. I see it as the responsibility of each one of us living here to keep it that way.”

23-year-old new hires, never. I toured with Wilf in disbelief. He talked about his father, about Grand Coulee Dam, gave me the important literature and maps, which I still have. I thought, this is a different kind of place. The publisher is in the office, right there. You can hear him laughing, whistling and typing.

Some years later I was a last-minute fill-in assigned to cover the World Trail Hike, the annual group trek into the Cascades wilderness with the Courtney family outfitters of Stehekin. This required hiking, of course, photography for a week’s outing, and writing about the event upon our return. We singles were assigned tentmates. They gave me to Wilf. Once again, I lay awake in disbelief. I am sleeping in a pup tent with the publisher. I was nervous, but he was casual and friendly and undemanding. He didn’t snore. He shaved every morning with a wind-up razor, and asked me to attempt some harmony during the campfire sing-alongs. He brought the songbooks. He hiked faster than me, too.

Wilf did not often step into day-today work issues. Department heads were in charge. Editors would give me a verbal thrashing when I deserved it.

I don’t remember this incident specifi-

cally, temporary amnesia I think, but I am told there was a day I was very upset about a management directive, threw a quick tantrum, and kicked a potted plant in the newsroom. The next day the managing editor took me aside and said, Wilf saw you kick the plant. He said if you ever do that again, I have to fire you. I was very grateful for a second chance. I never kicked a plant again. Honest.

We once had a features editor, Barbara MacLean, who had a thirst for adventure. She approached Wilf with a rather crazy idea. She would send out inquiries to newspapers in Britain, close to The World’s size, and ask if anyone wanted to exchange jobs for six months or so. I don’t know of many publishers who would be willing to trade a top editor for a foreign stranger chosen at random, but Wilf didn’t blink. He understood. He had a thirst for adventure himself.

So the exchange was made. The young editor from England arrived to stay at Barbara’s place in Leavenworth.

I was assigned to make sure she survived without freezing. We were married eventually, and we thanked Wilf.

And we had a daughter, and home, and a job, and we thanked Wilf. And we still thank Wilf.

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An Extraordinary Life

Remembering Wilf

would walk by my CPA office on the way to work. He always walked with a bounce in his step, like he was excited for the day. And knowing Wilfred, I knew he was excited for the day. He was always ready to learn something new. And any day that you got the chance to talk with him, you could learn something about our past. He was a walking history book of the region and the details he could remember were amazing. I will always remember his walk, his smile, and his interest in life-long learning.”

— Frank Kuntz, Wenatchee mayor —

Special twinkle

“I World file photo/Don Seabrook

Wilfred Woods, recipient of the Governor’s Medal of Merit Award, is honored at the 2009 Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Stemilt Growers Grand Parade.

By Christine Pratt Robbins

and Jefferson

World staff writers

Walking, whistling

“W

histle while you work or play is part of Wilfred Woods. He was the driving force to create Art on the Avenues. He said ‘Go for it, Queenie.”

The first exhibit was presented in 1995.

With his encouragement 13 years ago, “Beauty of Bronze” for fifth-grade students started. Wilf saw the need to create education and artistic pleasure for our community. He walked the streets and trails whistling and visiting with young and old friends. He was Wenatchee’s treasure in countless ways.”

— Adele Wolford, co-founder of Art on the Avenues —

Temper of the times

“W

ilf, through his interest in history, principally through the newspaper but in other forms as well, such as his support of local and state historical societies, kept that mid-20th century legacy very much alive. Indeed, I think it is fair to say that the preservation of the paper itself, and its innovations during the emergence of the internet age, is an accomplishment in itself.

Wilf’s columns will be referred to for decades into the future by historians looking to gauge the temper of the times during which he lived.”

— Dave Nicandri, director, Washington State Historical Society, 19872011 —

Life-long learning

“I

will remember Wilfred Woods walking to The Wenatchee World most mornings. He

believe the greatest impact Wilf has played in my life though was during the construction phase of Pybus Market. The project happened to be on his daily walking route and he would always stop in to check on the progress. He would happily don a hard hat and safety vest, walk through the obstacles and examine the latest work. Many times he reported on the project in his column, and we appreciated his good words. When completed, we celebrated Wilf’s 95th birthday in the concourse of Pybus Market, replete with the Golden Apple Marching Band. He had a special twinkle in his eye, as dignitary after dignitary paid homage to this wonderful man. What a birthday party that was! Wilf Woods will always occupy a special place in my heart!”

— Mike Walker, businessman and co-benefactor of Pybus Public Market —

Birthday surprise

“A

t his 70 birthday, a group of us girls met him at Siraco’s for lunch. He was a bit concerned as to when Kathy (Wilf’s wife) would show up and he inquired to the owner, Lula Valissarakos. She smiled and said, ‘Kathy will be in later to pay for lunch. These girls are your present.’ As he left and walked back to work, his arms laden with gifts and balloons, he whistled ‘Happy Birthday.’

A vivid and happy memory today.”

— JoAnn Walker, co-benefactor of Pybus Public Market —

Affectionate hand

“T

o put it simply, there would be no PAC without Wilfred Woods. His vision, commitment, tenacity, and devotion to this town are what sustained the theater during its stormy beginning. Now, during its rejuvenation, he remained a continual source of inspiration and wisdom for me and I gratefully reached for the strong and affectionate hand he offered me, confidently helping to guide our ‘precious little theater’ into the future he sacrificed so much to ensure.”

— Matt Cadman, executive director, Numerica Performing Arts Center —

Devotion to the arts

“T

here were several essential “Ones” to the building of the performing arts center in the late 1990s, and Wilf was absolutely essential! Wilf’s unblemished reputation and long-time devotion to the arts made him the perfect “poster boy” for the PAC. He knew the history of past efforts and knew people with sufficient interest and means to contact for initial donations. He had such a great good time doing it! Being with him, working on the PAC, was a joyous treat!”

— Jane Hensel, civic leader and supporter of the arts —

Community spirit

“H

ow has Wilfred Woods BEST contributed to Wenatchee and North Central Washington? That’s an easy question! The answer is, he married a Chelan girl, Kathy Kingman — a friend of my mom’s and aunt’s during Chelan school years. That made me think of the late Dr. Bill Stewart’s wife, Ladean, who told me that ‘Behind every successful man is an exhausted woman!’

Wilfred’s ‘love of learning’ and his consistency in sharing his knowledge in Wenatchee World articles, as well as personal conversations, has been a huge contribution to all of us. He is a voracious reader and his ability to remember history is absolutely remarkable. He is an encyclopedia of local history.

An Extraordinary Life Wilf has a huge heart and a terrific community spirit which he and Kathy show by supporting the PAC, the Wenatchee Valley College, the Riverfront Parks, etc. Wilfred Woods, a true asset not only to our North Central Washington communities, but to the State of Washington.”

— Linda Evans Parlette, former state senator

to everybody, and it’s that legacy I try to carry on today.”

— Harriet Bullitt, developer, owner and CEO, Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat —

Paper boys

“I Presenter of possibilities “W —

ilfred’s heart is classical music. He brags about being the only one in the family who doesn’t play anything, but he attended every classical music festival we put on here. Our friendship was based on his love of music and mine, too. When we first bought the property that became Sleeping Lady, he came over with musicians he’d heard at the Bach Festival. We had a chapel. The priest had moved out all the religious articles. Wilfred introduced us to the possibilities. The chapel became a theater, the Icicle Creek Music Center. He wanted classical music to be available

knew Mr. Woods by my kids.

When we came over here in 1944, my sons were paper boys.

They delivered the paper all around the valley. I had nine boys, and all nine boys were paper boys! Mr. Woods took them in. He was really good to them.”

— Lucy Montoya, recipient of Wenatchee’s 2015 Civil Rights & Social Justice Award —

Fellow adventurer

“I

did a lot of mission work, and Wilf would join me. We’d been to India, China, The Philippines, South Africa. He was just so accommodating and friendly, just fun to be around. I went on an orthopedic surgery mission in Bhutan in 1996, and Wilf came over to join me. The altitude was 7,000 feet at the capital city. I was concerned about his breathing and stamina, so I borrowed a Vespa (scooter). On the way up a steep hill, the thing stalled and the front tire rose up and Wilf fell off the back! He just laughed, climbed back on and off we went.”

— Dr. Fred Deal, retired Wenatchee surgeon —

His whistle, his laugh

“W

ilf was wonderful about keeping up with people.

I remember his whistle, World file photo his laugh and his sense Jim Stafford and Wilfred Woods examine the new sculpture of humor. He was one of the threads that in front of The World building in 1971.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

weaves through the lives of so many people, and he’s the consistent color in the quilt of many people’s lives. Wilfred and my father shared a sense of interest in everything and everybody.”

— Ann Deal, family friend —

Erratic enthusiasm

“W

ilf has been a member of the Erratics for many years and always paid his dues several years in advance; at one point, I think he was paid up for five years. Anyway, Wilf always attended the speaker meetings that the Erratics had every other month. What amazed me and some of the other long-term members was that Wilf would sit through the talks and not take a single note. Sometimes he did ask a question or two at the end of the talk. Then several days later he would write a short article summarizing the topic that appeared in the Wenatchee World with impeccable accuracy.

What a memory. We have missed his articles!”

— Brent Cunderla, president of “The Erratics,” local chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute —

Coulee tour

“U

p until this last year, Wilf usually brought a van full of people out to see the view from our house (a large gravel bar formed by the Ice Age Floods flowing down the Columbia River valley) at least once a year. He would then work his way up to Grand Coulee, and finally end up in Wenatchee.

These tours started out being offered to new Wenatchee World employees; however, they became so popular that eventually good friends were also included. It was always wonderful to see Wilf having so much fun, as he regaled everyone with his ‘flood stories.’”

— Ken Lacy, founding member of The Erratics —

What he represented

“I

n many ways, he became a role model for me, and as I learned more and more about how a

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smaller newspaper should operate and connect with its community, he was sort of my icon. I was always amazed at the way he and that newspaper engaged with the community and gave it a sense of identity. ... I think what he represented was the absolute best of family and local ownership, and bringing journalism and public service to his community, and doing that in a gracious manner.”

— Frank Blethen, publisher and chief executive officer, The Seattle Times —

The way he carried himself

“H

e wasn’t the kind person that preached to you. He led by the way he carried himself and did his work. ... We talked a lot, when we would get together, about how newspapers could, when we were banded together in this association, try to improve the abilities of the citizens to know what their government was up to — and that it was our job to stand in the shoes of our readers, to hold government accountable.”

— Rowland Thompson, executive director, Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington —

Enthusiasm and commitment

“I

don’t think I ever encountered a person who was as deeply involved in community as Wilfred was, and who made the difference that he did — whether in respect to the arts or in respect to parks or the community in general. He just carried that with him. It would have been easy, after all the years he did this, to say, well you know, I’ve done my duty, somebody else can do it now. But I never saw that attitude out of him. He continued to have that enthusiasm and commitment about everything he did.”

— Sam Reed, Washington Secretary of State 2001-2013 —

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Sunday, March 12, 2017

An Extraordinary Life

I

S

Remembrances

feel very lucky to have known your dad. He set an outstanding example of what a man can be. He made wonderful contributions to family and community. He tried to promote world peace.

Your dad sparked my interest in Middle East politics at an early age. He visited Gaza in 1958 and tried to alert America regarding the humanitarian disaster created by the ethnic cleansing of Palestine a decade earlier. Upon his return, he visited us in Tacoma.

I will never forget the anger and bitterness in his voice when he told us that “AP censors in Rome” stopped his news stories about Gaza from entering the U.S. — Barbara Haley (Wilf ’s niece), Alexandria, Virginia

o sorry to hear of your dad’s passing. Then again I don’t know of anyone else that lived a longer and better life.

I always knew, back in the day, he had many opportunities to sell The Wenatchee World. After I moved (for a short time) away from the valley the first thing I noticed was that there was no Wenatchee World. And until you live out of the valley without the Wenatchee World I believe you cannot have an appreciation of how great an asset it is to the community.

He was a great man!

— Ken Martin, retired president, Cashmere Valley Bank —

M

y deepest sympathies for the passing of your father. Wilf was a great man in many many ways! I know you are very proud of him and his positive and lasting impact on family, employees, Wenatchee and North Central Washington. He was a great mentor for me as I grew up in the newspaper industry at The Wenatchee World. Wilf’s values and integrity were of the highest level. He will be missed...!!!

— Marc Dailey, former World executive, Vancouver

—

I

feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to know him and work for him over many years. I will never forget his positive attitude and his infectious laugh. Oh, and the whistling!

— Nancy McMinn, Wenatchee —

I

am so sad to hear of your father’s passing. The first time I met him was when I worked for the ChelanDouglas Land Trust He led us on a hike down the old road grade between Horse Lake Road and Monitor. What crazy stories he would tell about those days.

It was always such a joy to see Wilf striding around town, he really did seem invincible.

— Patrick Walker, Wenatchee River Institute —

A

mong his many other accomplishments, your dad was instrumental in establishing the Wenatchee Riverfont Railroad.

Niles Saunders was forced to remove his miniature steam railroad from his Peshastin orchard because of insurance problems. I suggested to Dr. Bill Steward that we ask Niles to donate the train to the Museum.

Your dad enthused, “Let’s put it in Riverfront Park.” The obstacle was the Wenatchee Parks Board. Most members opposed the idea of a train running through their park. The showdown came at a Parks Board meeting.

As our agenda item was called, I asked

—

File photo

Hiking in the Olympic Peninsula in the early 1950s. your dad, as a member of our Railroad’s Board of Directors, to make our case.

With his usual optimism and boosterism, your dad stood and addressed the chairman of the Parks Board, George Richardson, his employee at the World. We prevailed. The front page article announced, “Niles Saunders Train to Run in Riverfront Park.”

Your dad walked to my office to hand me a copy hot off the press. Your dad was a great man.

— Stan Foster —

I

was so sorry to hear about the loss of your father. It came as a surprise to us as we did not know he was in poor health. As you know,

I so admired your father as a person, father, community leader, and visionary. Like his father, the name “Woods” is associated with the highest levels of integrity and community building.

What a legacy!

— Gene Sharratt, East Wenatchee —

R

ufus... So sorry to hear about your Dad. He was a great man and a really lovely guy. What a loss for our community... and of course for your family. There was no man in Wenatchee that I admired and respected more than Wilf. Thank you for your touching tribute to him in The World.

— Greg and Kris Taylor, Liberty Orchards, Cashmere

T

o have known Wilf was one of those special privileges that life offers to lucky people, and I consider myself lucky to have known your dad. Thanks for the very nice tribute to a very special human being.

Very best to you and your family.

— Parker and Bev McCreary —

I

remember first meeting your dad when I was a new hire and I made the mistake of calling him Mr. Woods. He immediately called me Mrs. Klansnic and I understood that all employees are on a first name basis with the publisher and as such considered part of the family. I was too young to know that the benefits as an employee were far greater than any monetary compensation because the Woods family really took care of their own. Ultimately it was the best job I ever had.

— Joan Klansnic Simon, former employee, Pensacola, Florida