S. Morey Wetherald

1929 - 2018

S. Morey Wetherald

Morey Wetherald passed away Tuesday, March 13, 2018, at the age of 88. He is preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy (Donnie) Wetherald, and is survived by his children and grandchildren, Thomas S. Wetherald, his wife Sydney Miller, and their son, Ian Wetherald, of San Diego, California; Margaret E. Wetherald and her husband, Leonard B. Barson, and their daughter, Robin C. W. Barson, of Seattle; Hugh Denworth Wetherald and his wife, Susan Palmer-Wetherald, and his daughter, Megan Wetherald, of Arlington, Virginia, and Morey's dear friend Joyce Craig of Charlottesville, Virginia. A memorial will be scheduled later this summer.

Morey was born on April 8, 1929, to Joseph S. and Ruth M. Wetherald and grew up in Fanwood, New Jersey. He spent his summers on his uncle's farm in Sandy Spring, Maryland, then a rural community. He graduated from high school in 1947 before receiving his engineering degree from Swarthmore College in 1951. At Swarthmore, he pledged Phi Kappa Psi and played junior varsity lacrosse in which he became second string All American. Morey joined the Navy as an Ensign in 1952 and tested jet engines for the Navy on top of Mount Washington. Donnie and Morey married in 1953 and headed to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas. In the mid-Fifties they moved to Seattle for an engineering position at Boeing. They lived in Wedgwood before moving to Clyde Hill in 1961 and to a lovely old house on Hunts Point in 1968.

Morey loved sailing and cruising in the Inland Passage in a 24" Blanchard Senior and later in a Cal 30. He loved skiing, camping, backpacking and canoeing with family and friends at the cabin on Dabob Bay and on fifty-mile Boy Scout treks. His photos and movies expertly recorded these adventures.

In 1972 the family moved to Sydney, Australia where Morey became the Boeing Commercial Air sales representative in the South Pacific. Family adventures included a two-week trek in Central Australia by Land Rover and trips to Fiji, Tahiti and New Zealand. The family returned to Seattle in 1976, taking six weeks to cross Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Morey and Donnie spent the next twenty-five years leading groups of friends on scuba diving trips, cruises and other adventures to far flung locations.

Morey finished his career at Boeing as Deputy Chief Engineer for the interior configuration and design of the first 747 Air Force One, a position that brought immense satisfaction. He served on the Board of The Kindering Center, a school for special needs children that he and Donnie helped to found in the early 1960s. Morey embraced digital photography and recorded the annual return of the Great Blue Herons to Media Park in a book of his photographs. After Donnie died in 2006, Morey moved to Skyline at First Hill in Seattle. He reconnected with Joyce Craig, a friend from Swarthmore, and enjoyed his stays with her in Charlottesville, Virginia.

We will miss his thirst for adventure and his love of life. We want to thank the community of Skyline at First Hill, particularly the staff and professionals in Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing, for their superb and loving care. Memorial donations may be made to The Kindering Center in Bellevue, Washington.