Richard Dwyer, 63; Gentle Tease, Faithful College And Prep Alumnus

Richard Francis Dwyer had a wish. He sometimes told it to his friends. When he died, he'd say, he hoped his obituary would end with: "And he was a very good and close personal friend of Elizabeth Taylor."

That was Mr. Dwyer's sense of humor, of course. He never met Elizabeth Taylor. But it was typical of the way the gentle, kindly, warmly engaging Mr. Dwyer liked to tease, and no one more than himself.

Mr. Dwyer, a longtime supporter of Seattle Preparatory School and a transportation executive, died last Wednesday at age 63.

Mr. Dwyer was born in Seattle in 1927, the son of John D. and Margaret Lillian Wabraushek Dwyer. John Dwyer was a field agent for the Pacific Steamship Co. Tragedy struck the family in 1931, when John Dwyer was killed in an airplane crash near Holgate Street and East Marginal Way, leaving three young children. Margaret Dwyer was pregnant at the time.

Margaret Dwyer soon went to work selling life insurance, and eventually put all of her children through parochial schools. And all went on to college.

Mr. Dwyer grew up on Capitol Hill, and attended St. Patrick's Elementary School, which no longer exists. Later, he attended Seattle Prep, graduating in 1946. After spending two years in Japan with the Army, he returned to Seattle and graduated from Seattle University in 1951.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Dwyer went into the transportation business. Eventually he spent 33 years with Clipper Express Co., a

nationwide freight-forwarding firm, rising to the post of assistant vice president.

Mr. Dwyer was quite active in the transportation field. He was a former president of the Seattle Chapter of the National Defense Transportation Association, a group organized to help provide reserve transportation services to the government in times of emergency, and was a member of the Transportation Club of Seattle. He was a board member of Seattle Red Cross and a member of the Washington Athletic Club.

Mr. Dwyer also gave a great deal of his time to Seattle Prep and Seattle University. He served as chairman of Seattle Prep's Alumni Board of Governors, and on the board of governors of the Seattle University Alumni Association. In recent years, Mr. Dwyer was quite active in helping raise money for both schools. Mr. Dwyer was also a member of the Seafair Clowns.

Catherine Iles, a friend for more than 20 years, recalled Mr. Dwyer as a "very genteel man, extremely polite, very considerate, a complete gentleman all the way, even to the end." Mr. Dwyer had a way of gently teasing people, Iles recalled. Recently, during his last illness, Iles visited him. "Do you remember me?" she asked. "Sure," he said. "You're my baby-sitter."

Marilyn Kavanaugh, Seattle Prep development and alumni director who worked closely with Mr. Dwyer, also recalled his gentle nature. "He had a wonderful sense of humor," Kavanaugh said, "and would tease the daylights out of you."

Once, she recalled, she and Mr. Dwyer were attending a fund-raising meeting, and Mr. Dwyer opened his remarks by telling the audience about Mrs. Kavanaugh's student-recruiting abilities. Once, he said, a small boy happened by on his bicycle and wanted to use the restroom at the school. "Well, she grabbed another one," Mr. Dwyer said of Kavanaugh.

A longtime friend, Dr. Sam Anderson of Seattle, recalled Mr. Dwyer as a rabid sports fan, particularly relating to Seattle University. "I don't think he ever got over the Elgin Baylor days," Anderson said, referring to the basketball great. "Dick always said Seattle U would rise again."

Mr. Dwyer's friends liked to tease him about his cooking. Mr. Dwyer began his education in the culinary arts while an employee of Uncle Sam in Japan. "For about 25 years it was pretty GI," said Anderson of Mr. Dwyer's cooking. "But it started getting better, and in the last few years, it was really gourmet."

A rosary service for Mr. Dwyer will be said at 4 p.m., Sunday, at Bonney-Watson Memorial Chapel on Capitol Hill. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Monday at St. Anne's Catholic Church at 1411 First Ave. W.

The family suggests that remembrances be directed to Seattle Preparatory School or to the American Cancer Society.

Mr. Dwyer is survived by his wife, Alice Plumis Dwyer, and his children, daughters Dawn Harris of Silver Spring, Md., and Dana Dwyer of Rochester, N.Y., and son Kevin Dwyer of Los Angeles.

And yes, even though it's only his joke with us, it seems fitting to add: "And he was a very good and close personal friend of Elizabeth Taylor."