Rest In Peace

I lost two readers and friends this week.

Con Story, who ran Con's Bellevue Appliance Service in Bellevue for many years passed away. He was the long-time companion of our good friend Ardelle Plummer. He had the greatest dimpled smile. When he would visit our house, he would cock his head, listening for signs of trouble in my appliances before it was evident to mere mortals. I learned a lot from him.

I just heard of the passing of my friend Mary Dore. She was a brilliant example of service, persistence, and class. I met her after she wrote to me about my column in the King County Journal, and I remained fascinated by her life and accomplishments. She and her late husband, State Senator Fred Dore, who later became Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, lost an infant daughter in 1961 to what was then called "crib death." Their grief was compounded by not knowing what had caused baby Christine's death. Mary convened a group of doctors at Rosario Resort, and charged them with the task of coming up with a better name, and the term Sudden Infant Death Syndrome was coined. Much of what we know about SIDS grew out of Mary's bulldog persistence in pursuit of answers. Many owe a debt of gratitude to this amazing woman. My sympathy to the family.

http://www.whitman.edu/content/alumni/involved/alumniawards/sallyrodgers