Robert Mceachern, Contractor, Business Leader, WSU Benefactor

He had power, stature and success, but those who knew Robert Burns McEachern best say what mattered to him most was not what he had accomplished for himself, but what he could do for others.

Mr. McEachern, a contractor, business leader and longtime benefactor of Washington State University, died Feb. 27 at the age of 80 and was honored at services yesterday.

Born to a Seattle pioneer family Jan. 25, 1912, Mr. McEachern graduated from Queen Anne High School and from Washington State University in 1937.

After graduation, he traveled to Alaska to help develop a gold mine near Seward. With him was a WSU classmate, Margaret Carter, whom he married in Alaska in 1939.

From 1941 to 1958, he was a partner in the C.H. Rasmussen Company. In 1958, he joined General Construction Company, a company his father and uncles had founded in 1911. He became president of the company in 1959 and was its chairman from 1971 until it was sold in 1981.

Mr. McEachern was a member and past chapter president of the Associated General Contractors of America and had served on the organization's national board of trustees.

Throughout his adult life, Mr. McEachern's ties to his alma mater, WSU, remained strong. In 1981, he was appointed by Gov. John Spellman to a seven-year term on the university's Board of Regents, and he was the board's president in 1987-1988.

Together, Mr. and Mrs. McEachern received the WSU Foundation's Outstanding Service Award in 1987. In 1988, he received the foundation's Weldon B. Gibson award for volunteer service.

At his final meeting as a regent, Mr. McEachern presented the university a check to establish the Student Emergency Loan Fund.

"Bob simply couldn't stand the thought that a student facing adversity might be without a helping hand," said WSU Foundation President Connie Kravas. "He remembered vividly his classmates, some of whom had had to drop out of school, never to return, because of unforeseen family emergencies or financial difficulties."

He demonstrated his loyalty to WSU in many ways, Kravas said, including setting up a sign near his Redmond home, proclaiming, "Proceed with caution: You're entering Cougar country."

In addition to his generosity, Mr. McEachern will be remembered for his style, a manner that put people at ease. "He was always cheery and he went out of his way to say `Hi' to everyone," recalls a daughter, Janet Wozniak.

Current WSU student Pat Newton expressed a similar sentiment Wednesday in an article in the campus newspaper, The Daily Evergreen.

Newton encountered Mr. McEachern regularly at the Redmond service station where Newton works during the summers and Mr. McEachern brought his Cadillac for weekly fill-ups.

During those stops, Mr. McEachern always had time for a smile and a chat - particularly about WSU's chances on the football field.

"I lost a great friend last Thursday, and so did Washington State University," Newton said. "R.B. McEachern was a personable, warm man always willing to help others."

Mr. McEachern was special booster of his fraternity, Kappa Sigma, which recently honored him with a national award for service and support. He served for many years on the Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America and received the organization's Silver Beaver award in 1985 for distinguished service to youth.

He was affiliated with the Seattle Rotary Club, The Rainier Club, the Museum of History and Industry, the Lake Burien Presbyterian Church and the Cottage Lake Presbyterian Church.

Survivors include his wife, Margaret; four daughters, Janet Wozniak and Mary LaBenz of Seattle, Lynn Wuscher of Duvall and Bonnie Farrell of Redmond; and 10 grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to WSU's R.B. McEachern Memorial Fund or to the Cottage Lake Presbyterian Church in Woodinville.