Dan Ayrault, Educator, Dies; Lakeside School Headmaster

Dan Ayrault, headmaster of Seattle's Lakeside School and an Olympic Gold Medal winner, died yesterday afternoon of cardiac arrest.

The 55-year-old educator was at his home when he died, said school spokeswoman Sally Brown.

The home, on the school campus, was being renovated at the time, and Ayrault had been living in a friend's guest house.

Ayrault graduated from Stanford University in 1956 and served three years as a Navy officer, primarily aboard destroyers in the Pacific Ocean.

He was a two-time Olympic gold medalist in rowing; in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia, and 1960 in Rome. He remained a rowing enthusiast.

Ayrault came to Lakeside as a teacher in 1959. After earning a master's degree at Harvard University in 1967, he became headmaster in 1969.

Ayrault was also president and chairman of the board of the Pacific Science Center between 1980 and 1984.

He is survived by his wife, Susan, and four children, the youngest in college.

Brown said no funeral arrangements have been made, but those interested can inquire at the school after noon today.

Lakeside's boys' and girls' basketball team played in the district tournament yesterday. The boys won a game in the district championship tournament against Mount Rainier High School last night, just hours after the school's popular headmaster died. The players were told of Ayrault's death at a pregame dinner by Coach Bruce Bailey.