Dick Erskine, 67, Former Principal Ski Patrol Was `Second Family'

Dick Erskine wasn't much of a skier when Alpental Ski Area opened at Snoqualmie Pass in 1967. But the National Ski Patrol there needed help.

``He really wasn't that good a skier, but he was a first-aid instructor,'' said his wife, Judy. ``He said he'd help them with first aid if they would help him with skiing. He was never an attractive skier, but he had a ball. It's been our second family ever since.''

Mr. Erskine, 67, also taught scuba diving and swimming, but probably he touched the most people through his years as an elementary-school teacher and principal in the Puyallup School District. He died Wednesday (Feb. 20) of a heart attack.

``He was very happy and extremely loving, and he was getting more and more that way every day,'' Mrs. Erskine said. ``He was enthralled with life.''

At a young age, Mr. Erskine learned firsthand how precarious that life can be. Twice during World War II, during which he served as a signalman in the Navy, ships were sunk from underneath him.

The first time was aboard a tanker en route to Malta. A German bombing raid struck the vessel, and Mr. Erskine was one of eight to survive the sinking.

Later, in the Caribbean, the cargo ship he was aboard was struck by a submarine-launched torpedo.

Mr. Erskine was born in The Dalles, Ore., and was orphaned at age 6. He joined the Navy when he was 17.

After the war, he finished school and attended junior college in the Seattle area before enrolling at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, where he got a degree in business.

He met Judy Martin, whose family settled in Puyallup in 1906, when he was working in a Sears management program.

``We were in a riding club. He was living with his brother, and I had a horse, and we kept meeting on horseback,'' Judy Erskine said. ``In 1952 we were married, on Ground Hog Day.''

After a while, Mr. Erskine found that he could get a teaching degree in a year at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, so he and his wife decided to go there and made an adventure of the move.

They rode their horses for five days, following much of the way over the Cascades the old Naches Trail, which Puget Sound pioneers traveled to bypass Portland while connecting with the Oregon Trail.

``The map ran out about halfway over, so we were lost for about a day,'' Judy Erskine said.

After getting the teaching degree, Mr. Erskine and his wife returned to Puyallup. He taught for 10 years before becoming a principal. He served in that capacity for 19 years, mostly at Stewart Elementary School, before retiring eight years ago.

Since retirement, Mr. Erskine has been involved in volunteer work with the Red Cross and other organizations - and, of course, the Ski Patrol.

``Here he is 67 and totally active with the Ski Patrol and getting better and better,'' Mrs. Erskine said. ``And we just recently started doing dance roller-skating together.''

In addition to his wife in Puyallup, Mr. Erskine is survived by a son, Rick Erskine of Tacoma, and a daughter, Chris Neuman of Port Townsend; a sister Laverne Green of Seattle and a brother, Donald Smith of California, and by two grandchildren.

A service is pending but tentatively scheduled for March 3.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Alpental Ski Patrol, the Pierce County branch of the American Red Cross and the Puyallup YMCA. A Puyallup School District scholarship is planned.