Larry Dalzell, 55; An Engineer And Inventor Who Loved Athletics

Larry Dalzell played football, first for the University of Washington, then for the semipro Seattle Ramblers. He loved skiing, serving as director of the National Ski Patrol's search and rescue unit at Snoqualmie Pass.

Then, five years ago, he lost a leg to diabetes.

So what did this active man do? He got a prosthesis, and got back on skis.

"He never let his problems get in the way," his fiancee, Andrea Phillips, said yesterday. "The guy touched many of us. He was so big in so many ways."

Mr. Dalzell - engineer, inventor, athlete, longtime Edmonds resident - died May 3 in Palmdale, Calif., suffering a heart attack while on assignment for The Boeing Co., his employer. He was 55.

Mr. Dalzell was born in Tucson, Ariz., but moved to the Seattle area as a child.

He received a bachelor's degree in ceramic engineering from the University of Washington in 1961, and went to work for Boeing five years later.

He received a master's degree in business administration from City University in 1978.

Mr. Dalzell's engineering specialties were bearings and tribological coatings - coatings for corrosion-prone surfaces.

He patented several inventions, one of which was recognized by Boeing in 1989 as among the company's top 20 in value.

At the time of his death, Mr. Dalzell was at the Lockheed plant in Palmdale, working on bearings for the B-2 stealth bomber.

His skills as an inventor also extended to the ski slopes.

Mr. Dalzell invented an avalanche pole that could be assembled from two ski poles and used as a probe. It still is widely used.

"He was very intense and always eager to help," said Gary Burke, former director of the National Ski Patrol's Northwest division. "He was always trying to find new methods and procedures to deal with avalanches."

Mr. Dalzell also helped train other Ski Patrol members.

In addition to Phillips, his fiancee, other survivors include two children, Theresa Dalzell, 25, and John Dalzell, 23; and a brother, Roger.

Funeral services were held yesterday.

The family suggests donations in his memory to the American Diabetic Association in Everett, or the Edmonds Aid Car Fund.