Albert Warlick, Man Who Didn't Understand `Impossible,' Dies At 70

It seemed that whatever Albert J. Warlick tackled, he mastered.

Whether it was running away from home when he was 15 and starting his first business - a bicycle-delivery service - or learning to fly airplanes or pilot a boat, his natural enthusiasm brought him success.

Just being around him, his friends and family learned a powerful lesson: anything is possible.

Until he died of heart failure Sunday at age 70, nothing seemed to stop Mr. Warlick.

"He's the kind of guy that nothing held him back," recalled his longtime friend, Dr. Jack Hennemann. "He just never said anything was impossible. He was the kind of person who could show you how to make it happen."

Most of his life he was buying and selling boats, planes, businesses and real estate. He began Commerce Investment Company and, with former Gov. Albert Rosellini, bought a beer-distributing company, which he sold to his partner in 1976.

Before he began having heart problems about two years ago, he was still piloting his own plane, a Beechcraft King Air, and his 65-foot yacht, Puffin.

"He always loved everything that moved - airplanes and boats," said his wife of almost 45 years, Virginia Warlick.

Flying with him in his double-wing, open-cockpit plane, Virginia Warlick recalled being totally secure with her husband at the controls.

"That was real flying," she said. "I loved it. He'd do stunts and tricks with it. He could never scare me."

On the ground, though, Mr. Warlick scared more than one person, said his wife and friends.

"He was gruff," recalled Virginia Warlick. "If you were doing the wrong thing, he'd have you shaking in your boots."

But most people forgave his outbursts, his wife said.

"People were alarmed because he'd shout at them," she said. "But they'd always find out his advice was exactly on target. If they weren't used to him, they'd be squirming. But if they needed something, after he got done shouting at them, he'd be as nice as he could be."

He also worked hard to help the plight of children who were developmentally disabled like his daughter, Annabelle, now 34.

"He was gruff, but he had a heart of gold," said former Gov. Rosellini. "He was always considerate, especially about the retarded and people who needed a little bit of help."

Born in Seattle in 1922, Mr. Warlick grew up on Queen Anne Hill, a rambunctious child who vexed his parents frequently, his wife recalled.

"He was quite a personality, always bucking against everything," she said. "He was their biggest problem, always getting in trouble."

When he was in his midteens, he ran away to San Francisco, starting a bicycle-delivery service and attempting to join the Army. His parents sent his older sister to bring him home and quickly enrolled him in Puget Sound Naval Academy, then located on Bainbridge Island.

But, for the most part, his zest for life served him well. "He had powerful energy and drive," Virginia Warlick said. "I had to try to keep up with him."

Sadly, Mr. Warlick is not around to see his wife receive an honor he believed very strongly she deserved for her work for mentally handicapped children - the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Jefferson Award for outstanding work in the community. The day after he suffered heart failure and went into a coma, his wife said, she received word she had been selected as a recipient.

Besides his wife, Mr. Warlick is survived by his sister, Gladys Pauley of Salem, Ore., and four children: Max Warlick of Arlington; Kathy Kimball and Ruth Schaaf, both of Seattle; and Annabelle Warlick of Everett.

He is also survived by a nephew, Frank Pauley of Salem, and four grandchildren.

A service is scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow at Adams Morrison Mortuaries, Inc., Acacia Funeral Home, 14951 Bothell Way N.E. in Seattle. The family suggests remembrances to a favorite charity.