Tedis Folk Sr.; Known For Humor, Athletic Feats And Barber Schools

Ask family and friends about what they remember best about Tedis Folk Sr. and they won't talk about the sports trophies that lined his home or the barber schools he ran for 25 years.

They'll talk about Mr. Folk's sense of humor, his way of laughing at life and his love for his wife and two sons.

"He was really jolly," said Gary Gross, a Seattle barber who grew up with Mr. Folk's sons and went to the Folk's Barber College. "He would always have a big smile."

Mr. Folk, 76, died here Dec. 2 after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Born in Canada, Mr. Folk, one of 13 children, moved with his family to Yakima to farm. He moved to Seattle in 1938. For the next 35 years, his athletic feats would set records and fill his home with trophies.

A veteran, he was an All Marine Corps heavyweight boxing champion in 1944. He played and coached fastpitch baseball for more than three decades and in 1977 was inducted into the city's Fastpitch Hall of Fame.

He also won the Chapman Award, given annually to a fastpitch player deemed most inspirational. It was his favorite award, said his widow, Violet Folk, to whom he was married for 55 years.

"He was a real special person to most people and touched many people's lives," she said. "His nicest quality was he was like a counselor, coach and teacher. His inspirational award was the nicest one he ever got and meant the most to him."

Mr. Folk also was an avid golfer and bowler and won state and city bowling titles. Mrs. Folk said one of her husband's team bowling scores is still unsurpassed.

In 1954, he bought the old Moler's Barber School and founded the Folk Barber School, operating two schools in Seattle and one in Yakima. Mr. Folk was debating whether to become a barber or an embalmer, said Mrs. Folk, and she strongly suggested he pursue barbering.

Hundreds of barbers have graduated from his schools, said Mrs. Folk. He closed the barber colleges in 1990.

The Folk Barber Schools sponsored many baseball and bowling teams, with Mr. Folk as a player and coach.

He treated many of the youth he coached as his family, said Tedis Folk Jr., his son.

"If you played ball for him, you were his son," he said.

One time, he said, he was on second base and got hit in the eye by an errant throw. When his father later reprimanded him for not going to third base, Tedis Folk Jr. complained that his eye was hurting. His father's response: "Use your other eye. Get there first, hurt later."

"He always gave 110 percent," said Tedis Folk, Jr. "He was well respected by everybody."

Besides his wife and son, Mr. Folk is survived by another son, Richard; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He also is survived by brothers Louis Folk of California and Andrew Folk of Yakima, and sisters Theresa Cosby, Seattle, and Madeline Toland of Chehalis.

A service was held Dec. 5. The family suggests remembrances to Medic One.