Darrell Robert Rasmussen

1934 - 2015

Darrell Robert Rasmussen

Darrell Robert Rasmussen, of Bonney Lake, WA, passed away on Friday, October 30, 2015. He was 81 years old. Darrell was born on January 7, 1934 in Mitchell, South Dakota to George and Lillie Rasmussen. The family moved to Corvallis, Montana when Darrell was a baby. After graduating from Corvallis high school in 1952, Darrell enrolled in the United States Navy, serving on the destroyer USS John A. Bole (DD-755) during the Korean War. Darrell retired from the Navy in 1956 and returned to Missoula, where he entered the University of Montana, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts in 1959. Darrell's first job was as a math teacher at Glasgow high school (Glasgow, MT) until 1961, then at Hellgate high school in Missoula until 1965. During this time he also obtained his Masters of Arts from University of Montana. In 1965 Darrell moved his family to Bellevue, Washington to become an engineer for Boeing. In 1966, Darrell was hired by the Bellevue, Washington school district to teach math at the new Interlake high school. Darrell taught math at Interlake until he retired in 1996, during which time he also served as head of the math department. Darrell was a member of the Puget Sound Math Council and served as the president from 1986 to 1987. Beginning in 1974, Darrell also taught night math courses at Bellevue Community College for the next 28 years, retiring in 2002. Darrell was a member of the Elks and the American Legion. He was an avid swimmer and was a member of the Samena club where he logged 1800 miles of swimming by 2001. In 1961, Darrell married Carol Johnson, and together they had 3 sons, Ronald, Brian and Craig. Darrell and Carol divorced in 1977 with Darrell raising the 3 boys on his own until he met Patsy Bates, the mother of 4 children; John, Jim, Jeff and Janeen. Darrell and Patsy were married on May 9th, 1981. Over the next 34 years they raised a large, loving family as one. The word "step" was never used and Darrel would say he coined the phrase "Osmosis genes".

Darrell is survived by his loving wife Patsy, their 7 children, 16 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of his life will be held at The Bellevue Club, 11200 SE 6th Street, Bellevue, WA 98004 at 1:00pm on Saturday, November 21st. Donations may be made in Darrell's name to the American Cancer Society for prostate cancer research and treatment.