Youssef Loutfy, 66; Shipboard Romance Changed Mariner's Life

Youssef Loutfy's life altered drastically the day he met his future wife, Dorothy, aboard a Norwegian freighter.

Mr. Loutfy, 66, who died Feb. 8 of cancer, was a native of Cairo, Egypt, who came to the United States 28 years ago and began a career with The Boeing Co. that took him into the company's Middle East sales operations.

Until moving to Lynnwood last year, the family had lived in Seattle's Queen Anne area for 28 years.

Adel Mohsen, a close friend and fellow Egyptian emigre, says Mr. Loutfy, born Sept. 8, 1924, was the son of a prominent family in Cairo. His father was in the Ministry of Education and held a position equivalent to principal of a high school in this country.

Mr. Loutfy trained in his country's merchant marine, achieving the rank of Suez Canal pilot in the 1950s.

While in the merchant marine, he took a job aboard a U.S. ship that docked in New York City.

To get back home, he got a ride on a Norwegian freighter embarking for Egypt. Aboard ship, he met Dorothy Clardy, a Seattle resident headed for an appointment in Morocco.

She never made it. ``It is a very romantic story,'' says Mohsen.

``I met this gorgeous Egyptian man,'' says Dorothy Clardy Loutfy. They went to Egypt instead, married and lived there for 11 years.

Dorothy Loutfy describes her husband as something of a rebel who at one time tried to organize a union among the Suez pilots.

It was a tumultuous time: Three weeks after she arrived in Cairo, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser took over and a long struggle with the British ensued over domination of the Suez Canal. In 1963, they moved back to Seattle.

Mr. Loutfy had a difficult time breaking into the U.S. merchant marine. He was licensed by the British Board of Trade and was told he would have to wait three years to get an equivalent position here. He went to work for Boeing instead.

At Boeing, his wife says, he consulted on Middle Eastern customs and language, reviewing sales proposals to make sure they were worded correctly.

Mr. Loutfy designed the logo for the private plane of King Khalid of Saudi Arabia. He also owned a small specialty baking company.

When not at work, Mr. Loutfy was an avid student of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Mohsen says his friend was a ``free thinker'' who appreciated the freedom of expression available in the United States. ``I think he was very happy to be here,'' he said.

His ``favorite thing in the world,'' says Dorothy Loutfy, was to go fishing on Ross Lake.

Youssef Loutfy is also survived by his daughter, Amani Ellen Loutfy, two sisters in Cairo and Germany and numerous relatives in Egypt.

Services were held Saturday at Bleitz Funeral Home. Remembrances can be made to the Evergreen Hospital Cancer Center in Kirkland.