Herbfarm founder Bill Zimmerman
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At an age when most people begin winding down their working life, Bill Zimmerman launched a business that would gain far more attention than his long career in engineering ever had. He was 57 when he and his wife, Lola, started an herb-growing operation in Fall City that would evolve into one of the Northwest's most renowned restaurants, The Herbfarm.
By the time of his death Tuesday at age 83 following a long illness, Mr. Zimmerman had seen The Herbfarm rise to almost legendary status among fans of fine food.
He also saw the restaurant destroyed by fire three years ago, and though it moved into temporary quarters in Issaquah, its co-founder did not live to see the planned re-opening this April in Woodinville.
The Herbfarm's regional and national fame, highlighted by articles and stellar ratings in numerous magazines and newspapers, astonished Mr. Zimmerman, said his daughter-in-law Carrie Van Dyck. She and her husband, the Zimmermans' son Ron, joined the business in 1985 and continue as co-owners. She said her father-in-law was especially surprised at the outpouring of public concern following the fire and at the efforts of other restaurateurs to help by organizing a benefit.
Katrina Gammon, a former Herbfarm employee, said that when she drove him home after the post-fire fund-raising event, he stopped to clean her car's dusty headlights with his dress shirt.
"He was selfless," she said. "He would come through the office pretty much every day, making sure we weren't working too hard and bringing little clippings, quotes, inspirational sayings."
The restaurant, opened in the mid-'80s, became known not only for gustatory pleasures but for learning, with the eatery's staff carefully explaining to diners exactly what went into each meal.
Mr. Zimmerman was born far from such refinements - in a log cabin in Fairbanks, Alaska, on July 16, 1917, the son of a mining engineer. After his father died in a mining accident in the 1920s, young Bill moved with his mother, brother and sister to Los Angeles, where he helped support the family by selling produce from a roadside stand.
He studied engineering in Los Angeles, and met Lola Kammer at a Burbank rooming house where she was working. Married in December 1941, they had been husband and wife for 59 years at the time of his death.
Mr. Zimmerman worked for Lockheed Aircraft during World War II and after, serving as part of the team that built the first American jet fighter. In 1946, the couple moved to Gold Beach, on the Oregon Coast, where they built and operated a fishing resort.
The family moved in 1954 to Bellevue and later to the Sammamish Plateau. Mr. Zimmerman worked as an engineer with Boeing for 25 years, launching his Fall City herb-growing business a few years before his retirement.
Over the years, Mr. Zimmerman's most intense interest remained with growing the herbs. He oversaw the gardens and could often be seen taking cuttings to propagate new plants.
Surviving Mr. Zimmerman are his wife, Lola; son Robert and Robert's wife, Valorie; son Ron and his wife, Carrie Van Dyck; and grandchildren Thomas , Paul and Anne. He was preceded in death by his brother, Franklin, and his sister, Mary Woods.
Graveside services were held yesterday at the Fall City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to Evergreen Hospice, 12910 Totem Lake Blvd. N.E., # 200, Kirkland, 98034. Telephone: 425-899-1900.