Arthur Wilson Eckton

1924 - 2014

Arthur Wilson Eckton

July 9, 1924 ~ August 4, 2014

Arthur Wilson Eckton, loving son of Gudrun and Arthur Eckton, died August 4 in Seattle Washington at the age of 90.

Arthur was born on his grandparent's farm in Brush Prairie Washington and was raised in Queen Anne, Seattle. He had fond memories of growing up in the 1930's and of playing with his many cousins from the Portland area.

Arthur joined the Army Air Force during his senior year in high school, just missing his graduation ceremony, and trained at U.C. Berkeley in California. During WWII he served with the Meteorology Group in the Pacific Theater.

After the war Arthur met Katherine Zubal at a USO dance in Seattle. The couple married in 1947 and moved to California where Arthur finished his college education at UCLA. In 1950 Katherine gave birth to their daughter Teresa. The couple divorced in the early 1960's.

Arthur joined Boeing in Seattle in 1952 during the early phase of the Computer Era. He worked on aerospace and defense applications using the IBM 700. Arthur later worked in California as a Computer Analyst for Lockheed in Mountain View, Vandenberg AFB in Lompoc and Edwards AFB in Lancaster. In 1980 he retired and moved back to Seattle.

Arthur loved hiking, skiing and ice-skating (especially when the excellent organist at the Seattle Center Rink was on hand). He could recount scene-by-scene descriptions of favorite films such as "Elmer Gantry," "Guys and Dolls," and any movie featuring Marcello Mastroianni.

He was passionate about History and Geography and (even though he usually already knew the answer) loved exploring these subjects. As well, music was a great comfort in his later years: his radio was usually tuned to stations playing Frank Sinatra, light rock from the 60's and 70's, and opera.

Arthur will be dearly missed by his daughter Teresa, son-in-law Robin, grandson Jordan and by his other family members and friends.