Mel Vanik, 96, former mayor of Bellevue, aviator

Former Bellevue Mayor Milford Frank "Mel" Vanik walked with a limp for most of his life, the result of a childhood bicycle accident.

But the injury didn't stop him from moving with speed and grace up to an age when many would be satisfied with a walk to the grocery.

He piloted a gas-filled balloon over the Alps in his 70s, flew planes as a hobby, helped design them at Boeing, and cruised boats on the side.

"He loved to adventure," said his wife of 53 years, Jeri, of Bellevue.

Mel Vanik died Thursday of complications from pneumonia at Cascade Vista Convalescent Center in Redmond. He was 96.

Born July 29, 1906, the son of a Cleveland butcher and grocer, he got his first taste of ballooning while studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Michigan. He and several classmates were given an old gas balloon, formed the University of Michigan balloon club and took to the sky.

Mr. Vanik quickly reached the elite ranks, representing the United States in the 1934 Coupe Auronautique Gordon Bennett, an annual international balloon race, held in Poland that year.

His professional career, meanwhile, traced the rise of aviation. From small airplane makers in the 1930s he moved to the agency that was the precursor to the Federal Aviation Administration — and then to Boeing in 1945.

After stints for Boeing in Seattle and Wichita, Kan., he settled in Bellevue's fledgling Newport Shores neighborhood in 1961, eventually becoming assistant to a vice president at Boeing's Renton plant.

Mr. Vanik was quickly recruited into city government. In 1962 he joined the city Planning Commission for eight years. After retiring from Boeing in 1971, he successfully ran for City Council in 1972. He held office until 1978. In the final two years he held the mayoral seat, which rotated among council members.

City officials and civic leaders remembered him for bringing an engineer's meticulousness to his political post.

"He was a guy who paid careful attention to the finances," said Bellevue businessman Bob Wallace, who backed Vanik's bids for office.

Then-police-chief Don Van Blaricom said he helped establish the council as the lead decision-maker for the city. Until Mr. Vanik became mayor, the city manager sat at the center of meetings. Mr. Vanik moved him to the side, making clear that the council was at the helm.

"He was going to put staff in a support role to the political decision-makers. And that's the way it's supposed to be," Van Blaricom said.

Politics didn't keep Mr. Vanik from his other pastimes.

He frequently launched a hot-air balloon from his Newport Shores property, to the delight of visitors and neighborhood children who took rides with him, said Jeri Vanik. Twice while in his 70s he flew a gas-filled balloon from the Swiss town of Murren over the Alps and into Italy.

He is survived by his wife, sons Allen, Dr. Richard and R.J., and by three granddaughters. Memorial services have not been scheduled.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com