Merritt Des Voigne, 77, Educator, Referee, Late-Blooming Travel Writer
About 14 years ago, Merritt "Ole" Des Voigne, a retired Seattle educator who dreamed of being a writer, got a wake-up call: a series of heart attacks.
He figured he'd better start writing if he was ever to realize his dream.
He sold a river-rafting yarn to the old Seattle Times Rotogravure. Then he sold some stories to travel magazines.
He even published a book, "Being Small Wasn't Bad At All," about his youth in Ellensburg.
It wasn't a bad title for his life, which ended Sunday, Nov. 26, after a heart attack at 77.
When his family moved to Yakima, Mr. Des Voigne stayed behind at the YMCA in Ellensburg to finish high school, according to his son, David Des Voigne of Lynnwood. Then he worked odd jobs to pay his way through Ellensburg Normal School (now Central Washington University), where he earned a teaching degree in 1939.
During World War II, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving on Okinawa.
"I think part of the reason he became a Marine was because of his stature," said David Des Voigne, who said his father stood 5 feet 3 inches.
After the war Mr. Des Voigne taught near the Tri-Cities, then joined the Seattle School District as a teacher and principal at elementary schools, including Lake City and Sand Point.
To augment his income, Mr. Des Voigne officiated at high-school and junior-college football and basketball games. He took ribbing about his height, particularly at college basketball games where he "looked people in the waistband," said his son.
"But they knew he was no one to mess with. And he had the whistle!"
He also sold ice cream from the back of a motor scooter.
A favorite summer job was running a hamburger stand with his wife and friends at the Ellensburg Rodeo. They did that for 10 years.
After retiring, he began taking writing classes.
His friend, Mildred Smith, said he was an "energetic, self-made man who never once was at a loss for a story. He loved to go to old-referee meetings, old-teachers' meetings and his high-school reunions. He usually was the program."
She didn't know how he got his nickname "Ole."
"He didn't have one drop of Scandinavian blood," she said.
Other survivors include his sisters, Lois Hafner and Charlotte Gust, both of Tacoma, and Carol Madigan, Santa Clara, Calif.; and three grandchildren. His wife of 53 years, Evelyn, died in 1994.
Services were held. Remembrances may go to Children's Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 5371, Seattle, WA, 98105.