Preserving the Stories of Issaquah On-Line

Read The Memories

The following individuals have contributed to our memory books.  Each name is a link that you can click on to read the person's full submission to our project.  If you are looking for something in particular, these memories are also searchable.

Please note that the memories recorded here are the personal recollections of members of the Issaquah community. No claims are made by the Issaquah Historical Society as to their absolute accuracy. Opinions and views presented are those of the writer, not necessarily the Issaquah Historical Society.

1. Les Adair (1914-2004). His family first settled here in 1889 and 1903.  His family has occupied the same property since his grandfather moved here in 1903. Les graduated from Issaquah High School in 1933. He worked for many years for the Seattle Fire Department.  He also drove the night delivery truck for Darigold from 1968-1976. 

2. Kerry Anderson served as Issaquah’s City Park Director from 1971-2000.  Some of his accomplishments while in this position include Tibbetts Valley Park, and landscaping along Gilman Boulevard and Rainier Boulevard.  Kerry currently resides in Manson, Washington.

3. Donna Pedegana Arndt was born in Issaquah in 1930.  Donna’s father was born and raised here as well, and worked as a coal miner for many years.  Donna’s mother moved to Issaquah in 1930.  Donna’s husband worked for many years as a logger.

4. Marilyn (Dodge) Batura (b. 1944) is a lifetime resident of Issaquah.  Marilyn’s family moved to Issaquah during the Depression. They purchased a farm where her father raised milk goats.  Marilyn graduated from Issaquah High School in 1962.  This was the last class to graduate from the school’s location “on the hilltop”. 

5. Clint Brady (b. 1960) lived in Issaquah from 1960 until 2000. Clint’s grandparents first moved to Issaquah in the early 1920’s. Many Issaquah resident fondly remember his father’s clothing store, Brady’s. Clint graduated from Issaquah High School in 1978.  Clint and his family recently moved to Maple Valley.

6. John Brady (1925-2005) lived in Issaquah his for all but a few years of his life. He moved here with his parents, who later owned and ran a local business,  Brady’s Dry Goods.

7. Delores (Kinnune) Busby is a lifetime resident of Issaquah.  She graduated from Issaquah High School as did her father, brother, and aunt on her mother’s side. Delores’s father and grandfather owned Kinnune’s Shoe Repair Shop in town for many years. 

8. Sue (Bush) Cameron (b. 1943) has lived in Issaquah her entire life.  Sue’s great grandparents, James and Martha Bush, were some of the earliest pioneers of Issaquah, arriving in 1864. Sue still lives on the family homestead.  This homestead has been occupied by her family for 137 years. Sue volunteers at the Issaquah Historical Society.

9. Lawrence Campbell (1917-2002) lived in Issaquah his entire life and saw it grow and change over the years.  Larry’s grandparents came to Issaquah from Pennsylvania in 1884.  His father was a miner and worked for several mines in the area.  He graduated from Issaquah High School in 1937.  Larry worked at Boeing before and during World War II, and later joined the Marine Corps. After the war, he worked in the retail lumber business until retirement.

10. Richard Carlson (b. 1926) worked in the Issaquah School District for thirty-four years, from 1948 to 1982.  He served the community as a teacher for fourteen years, a vice principal for five years, and a principal for fifteen years, all at the Junior High School level.  Richard currently lives in Bellevue, Washington.

11. Bob (1927-2004) and Lois Catterall moved to Issaquah from Louisville, Kentucky in 1958, on the advice of Bob’s brother-in-law that real estate was booming.  Bob began his real estate career working at the Rowley agency, and later founded Eastside Realty, Inc., where he served as president and broker for 35 years.  Bob and Lois’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren also live in Issaquah.

12. Jean and Charles Cerar moved to Issaquah in 1972.  They chose Issaquah as a great community to raise their two children. Jean has been involved with the Volunteers for Issaquah Schools, Camp Fire at Issaquah Valley Elementary and Hans Jensen day camp, Cub Scouts at Issaquah Valley and the PTA at Issaquah Valley, Issaquah Middle School and Issaquah High School.  Charles was involved with Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Camp Fire.  Both Jean and Charles were members of the Issaquah Residents for Environmental Quality and currently volunteer for the Issaquah Historical Society.

13. Ted Cowan (b. 1926) has lived in Issaquah for most of his life.  He moved here with his parents in 1949.  Ted has worked in the real estate business for many years, as well as serving as a lobbyist in Olympia.  Ted is also involved in many sports clubs, including the Issaquah Sportsmen’s Club, King County Sports Council, and the Washington State Sports Council.

14. Denny Croston (b. 1946) has lived in Issaquah for the majority of the last fifty-five years.  He is the fourth generation of Crostons to reside in Issaquah. His relatives first arrived in the early 1890s.

15. Doreen Dalbotten (1918-2004) and her husband Irving purchased the Issaquah Ten Cent store in 1945.  That same year, Doreen and her sister, Maxine Maulsby, opened the Dormax Department Store.  Doreen currently lives in Issaquah.

16. Rachel (Dilley) Darst moved to Issaquah with her parents in 1933.  She has remained here ever since.  Her husband, Ivan, worked in several of the local mines. Rachel currently lived on Mine Hill.

17. Jim Elser (b. 1937) has lived in the surrounding area since 1945, and lived in Issaquah from 1959-1962.  Jim grew up on the Sammamish Plateau. He is a gifted craftsman and artist.

18. Eric Erickson (b. 1936) was born and raised in Issaquah.  His family moved from High Point to Squak Valley, south of Issaquah, in 1910.  Eric grew up on the family farm, which is now the Squak Valley Park site. Eric graduates from Issaquah High School in 1954.  Eric and his wife Marla’s grandchildren are the fourth generation of the family attending Issaquah schools. Eric has served as the past president of the Issaquah Historical Society and Issaquah Sportsmen’s Club. He has also written several publications on the history of logging and sawmills in the area.

19. Bill Evans (b. 1923) has lived in Issaquah for a total of sixty-one years.  Bill graduated from Issaquah High School in the Class of 1941.  He spent some time living in Seattle while attending the University of Washington.  His father’s family settled in Issaquah in the late 1880s, while his mother’s family settled here in 1900.

20. Jo Garner (b. 1915) moved to Issaquah in 1934.  In 1940, Jo married Ai Garner, who is fondly remembered for his work as a butcher at Tony and Johnnie’s and Fischer Meats.  Jo and Ai’s two daughters were raised in Issaquah.

21. Hooker Hailstone (1923-2005) was born and raised in Issaquah.  He graduated from Issaquah High School in 1947. Hooker worked in the logging industry for several years, but spent the majority of his career (over 37 years) working at Darigold. Hooker and his wife, Dorothy, raised their four children in Issaquah.  The Hailstone family first moved to Issaquah in 1888.

22. Marian (Stefani) Hampton (b. 1931) has lived in Issaquah for most of her life, leaving only to attend college. Marian’s family has lived in Issaquah for a number of generations.  Her father was well known as the manager of the liquor store on Front Street. Her paternal grandparents ran a poultry business, while her maternal grandparents owned the Issaquah Valley Dairy.  She married in 1956 to Ken Hampton, whom she had met in the first grade.

23. Wilma (Nikko) Hill is a lifetime Issaquah resident, having lived here for 84 years. Wilma was raised on a small, ten-acre farm and graduated with the Class of 1935.  This was the first freshman class in the “new” high school, where the pool is now located.

24. Jeff Hjelm was born and raised in Issaquah. He graduated from Issaquah High School.  Currently, he lives in North Bend with his wife Mary, daughter Rachel, and son Kyle.  Jeff works in a repair shop in Seattle.

25. Kyle Hjelm currently lives in North Bend with his family. He attends school in Fall City, Washington.

26. Linda Adair Hjelm (b. 1939) was born and raised in Issaquah. She graduated from Issaquah High School in 1957.  Linda and her husband, Lonnie, raised their son and daughter in Issaquah. Linda has worked in a variety of positions, including the Police Department, the City of Issaquah, a local attorney’s office, and the Holiday Inn.  Linda and her husband continue to live on her family’s original property. Linda is active in the Issaquah Historical Society and is interested in preserving Issaquah’s history because, “You don’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you have been.”

27. Vivian R. Ayers Hofto (b. 1910) lived in Issaquah from 1914-1918.  Vivian’s family moved here in order for her father to work in the Issaquah mining industry.  She attended first through third grade at Issaquah Elementary. Vivian currently lives on Tacoma, Washington.

28. Monita Horn (b. 1938) and her husband, Jimmy, moved to Issaquah for his job teaching electricity and math courses at Issaquah High School in 1964.  Jimmy left teaching two years later and spent the rest of his career with Puget Sound Power & Light in Renton.  Monita and Jimmy raised their three boys in Issaquah.

29. Nancy (Trostle) Horrocks (b. 1935) has lived in Issaquah for 56 years. She moved here with her parents after World War II in 1945. Nancy’s parents chose to move to Issaquah because they were looking for a rural area and prioritized a high quality school district.  Nancy and her husband David raised their four daughters in Issaquah on the Horrock’s family farm. They have also been active members of the Issaquah Historical Society.

30. Archie Howatson (b. 1918) was born near Monohon, where he lived until the town burned down due to a mill fire in 1925.  Archie worked as a timber cutter in the local logging industry for 20 years.

31. Ruth Kees (b. 1923) was raised in a small town in Nebraska, but moved to Issaquah in 1960. Ruth is a local environmental activist.  She has operated a weather monitoring station, recording and maintaining rainfall records for the immediate Issaquah area, for many years.

32. Bill Klein (b. 1918) was a teacher at Issaquah High School for thirty-five years. Bill lived in Issaquah for 40 years.   Mr. Klein brought 35 years worth of music to Issaquah High students. 

33. Paul Koss (1907-2006) lived in Issaquah for 95 years, moving here with his family in 1912 when his father came to work in the coalmines. He graduated from Issaquah High School in 1925.  Paul owned the popular Log Tavern for several years beginning in 1938.

34. Phyllis “Fifi” Krumbah Laughlin (b. 1933) graduated from Issaquah High School in 1951. She was born and raised in Issaquah, where she graduated from Issaquah High School in 1951, Her father, Melvin, was the Manager of Alpine Dairy for many years, while her mother, Alice Klossner Krumbach, volunteered extensively for the Civil Defense Program.

35. Theodore and Ann Leber both grew up in Seattle, but made their home in Issaquah on Cougar Mountain for fifty-two years. Their five children, Eric, Christie, Laurie, Tia and Mark, were all raised in Issaquah and graduated from Issaquah High School.  Ted and Ann were active in the Issaquah Alps Club and the Issaquah Historical Society. They moved from Issaquah in 1999 and currently live in Ellensburg, Washington.

36. Loretta (Waters) Lewis (1907-2006) was born in Rock Falls, Illinois. She later moved to the Issaquah area between 1918 and 1919. She attended a one-room school on Vaughn’s Hill.  In 1925, Loretta was married to a local Issaquah man, and moved to her husband’s property on West Lake Sammamish, where they lived until just recently.

37. Mary E. (Knoernschild) Lewis (b. 1913) has lived in Issaquah her whole life. She graduated from Issaquah High School in 1931. 

38. Gerald Lider (b. 1922) was an influential teacher and administrator at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels in Issaquah for approximately thirty years.  He began his teaching career at the old Issaquah Elementary School in 1948 and retired as Principal of Maywood Junior High in 1977. Gerald and his wife, Milly, chose the small town atmosphere of Issaquah to raise their three children.

39. Lenore Cutsforth Martinell (b. 1938) lived in Issaquah for fifty-two years.  Lenore’s father was a poultry farmer and carpenter, and both her grandfather and great grandfather, John and James Bush, lived on farms as well. Lenore graduated from Issaquah High School in 1956 and worked for the Issaquah School District until she retired. Lenore currently lives in Everett, Washington with her husband, Ted.

40. Urban Masset (b. 1934) was born and raised in Issaquah. He has lived here his whole life with the exception of his time in the military and at college. Urban’s family arrived in Issaquah in the early 1900s.

41. Meindert Pillie graduated from Issaquah High School in 1934.  He lived with his family on the John Barlow farm on the south end of Lake Sammamish until 1936.  After medical discharge from World War II, Meindert began working for Boeing, where he remained until his retirement.

42. Lorraine Swanson Morton (b. 1949) was born in Seattle, but was raised on her family’s homestead south of Issaquah.  With the exception of a few years in college, and her husband’s years in the military, Lorraine has lived in Issaquah for the majority of her life.  Lorraine’s grandmother and grandfather were married and settled on their homestead in 1910.

43. Nelliemae (Smart) Nolet (1914-2004) was born and raised in Issaquah. Nelliemae graduated from Issaquah High School in the Class of 1933.  Nelliemae’s grandfather, John Anderson, operated one of the largest farms in the valley. She has lived on West Lake Sammamish since 1941.

44. Chuck Olson (b. 1948) was raised on Lake Sammamish and has lived in Issaquah for most of his life.  He graduated from Issaquah High School in 1966. After college, he began a teaching job at Maywood Junior High. Chuck’s grandparents moved to Issaquah beginning in 1887. His grandparents owned Alexander’s Beach Resort, where he spent much of his time growing up.

45. Sam and Alice Paschal moved to Issaquah in 1958 so that Sam could work at Boeing. They bought 10 acres of the original homestead of the pioneering Eastlick family, where they lived from 1958 to 2000.  Their three children attended school and were raised in Issaquah. Sam and Alice have recently moved to Catalina, Arizona where Sam is teaching computer software and Alice is doing artwork for various booklets.

46. Colleen Darst Petersen (b. 1947) is a lifelong Issaquah resident. Colleen’s great-grandparents, James and Martha Bush, were some of the earliest white settlers in Issaquah.

47. Viola (White) Petersen (b. 1926) has lived in Issaquah most of her life. Her maternal grandparents settled here in the 1920s. Viola graduated from Issaquah High School in the Class of 1944, and her husband in the Class of 1943.  Their four children also graduated from Issaquah High School. 

48. June Day Sandberg lived in Issaquah from 1928 to 1939, and also lived in Issaquah with her parents for a brief time during World War II.  Currently, June lives in Fall City, Washington. 

49. Evelyn Evans Donlan Schall (b. 1919) was born in Yakima and raised in Prosser, Washington. She moved to Issaquah in 1943, shortly after her marriage to Dan Donlan. They moved to Issaquah to be near her husband’s mother.  They raised their five children in Issaquah.  Currently, Evelyn lives in Renton, Washington.

50. Ken Schmelzer (b. 1925) moved to Issaquah in 1951 to accept a job teaching Industrial Arts at Issaquah High School.  He retired from teaching in 1982, but still lives in Issaquah.

51. Walter Wood Seil (b. 1920) has lived in Issaquah for all but a few (6-8 years) of the last eighty years.  Walt worked for many years in the logging industry.  He graduated from Issaquah High School in 1941.  Walt and his wife, Olga, raised their two daughters in Issaquah.

52. Helen (Peters) Stackable (1915-2006) moved to Issaquah with her family in 1920.  Her father wanted to move to Issaquah in order to purchase a dairy farm.  Helen graduated from Issaquah High School in 1933.  Shortly after graduation, she moved to Seattle, and later San Diego, California.  Helen lived the last portion of her life in Battle Ground, Washington.

53. Peechie (Bergsma) Stefani (1908-2003) moved to Issaquah from Holland with her family at the age of 3. Her family moved for the opportunities to better their lives through hard work. Peechie and her nine siblings were raised on a farm.  She has lived in Issaquah for ninety years, and has lived in the same house since 1929.

54. Alice Bogdan Swanson (b. 1925) is a lifetime Issaquah resident. Her father, Martin Bogdan, had an 80-acre homestead about 5 miles south of Issaquah on the Cedar Grove/ Hobart Road. Alice and her sisters were born on this property. She attended Issaquah schools, graduating from the High School in 1943. Alice and her oldest sister, Mary, still live on property that is part of the original homestead.

55. Nate Thomas (b. 1937) lived in Issaquah from 1945 to 1996. Nate’s family owned Thomas Furniture. Nate also owned a law firm in Issaquah. He currently lives in Sun Valley, Idaho.

56. David Waggoner (b. 1944) was born in Pasadena, California, but moved to Issaquah with his parents a year and a half later. He graduated from Issaquah High School in 1962.  David served in the U.S. Army for twenty-six years. He retired in 1993 as a Lieutenant Colonel.  He returned to the Issaquah area in 1996, where he plans to spend the rest of his years. Currently, David drives buses for the Issaquah School District and Grayline Tours.  David enjoys competing in school bus rodeos.

57. Carol Walen (1917-2005) was born in Fall City, where her father owned a construction company.  He built many well-known structures in Issaquah. Carol was an English teacher for many years. She was married to Frank Walen in 1942, and they later settled in Issaquah in 1948. Carol lived in Issaquah for the rest of her life.

58. Imogene Woodside (b. 1922) moved to Issaquah in 1946 with her husband, Stuart, and one- and three-year-old sons. They lived on a dairy farm. Imogene is fondly remembered for her 14 years of work at the Grange Mercantile.  Imogene and Stuart left Issaquah in 1968 and currently live in La Center, Washington.