Gale Barbee, A Quiet Man Who Did His Good Deeds Outside Spotlight

Gale Barbee was a quiet man who did his good deeds away from the spotlight. He didn't feel comfortable talking about the support he gave the underprivileged, his church or his community.

Walt Kilgore, a friend of more than 30 years, said he did not know until after Mr. Barbee died Monday (April 5) that he was one of three founding board members of the Evergreen Legal Services, which helps indigents and nonprofit organizations with legal help on civil matters.

"I didn't know he was involved in that. It goes to show even some of his best friends did not know what good he was doing," Kilgore said.

"He was not interested in taking credit or using his community service to help in business or his law practice, Kilgore said. "He went about it very quietly."

Mr. Barbee, a 59-year-old Mercer Island resident, died after four years of illness with Parkinson's Disease and skin cancer. He practiced with the Seattle law firm of Montgomery, Purdue, Blankinship and Austin.

Gordon Wilcox, a member of Evergreen's board of directors, said Mr. Barbee's role was crucial in helping with two other men lay the groundwork for Evergreen in 1976. Without him and his colleagues it may not have come about, Wilcox added.

Mr. Barbee, again quietly, did a lot of legal work "pro bono" or free for those unable to pay, and it helped his firm win an award from the Seattle-King County Bar Association last year recognizing their service to the underprivileged.

Mr. Barbee's wife, Barbara, said her husband always was "very concerned with the underdog. He came from humble beginnings and he had this innate Christian value system that wanted to help people."

Another longtime friend, Sally Campbell, knew Mr. Barbee as a kind, sensitive man who played a major part in the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church.

He was an elder and a deacon of the church, plus he did the church's legal work and later served as the legal counsel for the Seattle Presbytery, all without wanting to take credit.

Kilgore says Mr. Barbee will be especially missed because, "he was a pillar of strength for all of us. . . . He left a legacy to his family, his friends as a role model of how to act, how to live, how to be."

Mr. Barbee was born in Kennewick and he eventually came to the University of Washington on a ROTC scholarship, becoming president of his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha.

He then served four years in the Navy and returned to the UW where he received his law degree and was president of his class in 1962.

Mr. Barbee was active with the Washington State Bar Association as a young attorney and he served on the boards of the Lafromboise Newspapers, Mercer Island Youth and Family Service, the Seattle Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center and the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church Foundation.

An avid hiker, camper and sailor, Mr. Barbee also was a mountain enthusiast and he climbed most of Washington's major peaks.

Besides his wife, Barbara, Mr. Barbee is survived by his daughters, Stephanie Barbee of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Sara Barbee of Mercer Island, a son, David Barbee of San Francisco; his mother, Lillian Barbee of Mercer Island; a brother and sister-in-law, Don and Judy Barbee of Berkeley, Calif.; and a niece, Teri Barbee of Kent.

Memorial services are scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, 3605 84th Ave. S.E.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church Foundation, the UW Law School Class of 1962 Scholarship Fund, the American Cancer Society or the American Parkinson's Disease Association.