Darrell James Hyre

1958 - 2024

Anacortes - Darrell James Hyre 66, of Anacortes was born at Offutt Airforce Base on September 4th, 1958. He peacefully passed away after a brief battle with cancer on November 21st, 2024. He was preceded in death by his parents Loreen Smallwood of Cresent City CA and Bob Hyre of Bellingham WA.

Darrell was born totally deaf and attended Washington State School for the deaf. Darrell was a lifetime Alumni Association member and financial supporter of the school. He had a very bright mind. He could read lips and anticipate what people were going to say. His handwriting was clear, concise and he would write and read notes with others who could not use American Sign Language. If you were having a conversation with Darrell and he did not like what you were saying, he would just smile and simply turn his back to you and not read your hand signing or lips.

He moved from Seattle to Anacortes in 2005 to be closer to his family. He was well liked by all his tenant neighbors at Silverwood Apartments. He was always friendly, polite and willing to lend a helping hand to the other tenants. Of course, being deaf, Darrell's TV was always on mute.

Darrell's favorite pastime was drinking beer and playing pool. He was a very good shooter and was regularly asked to join pool teams in pool leagues in this area. Darrell was a spitfire and loved playing soft ball with his teammates. He loved doing word games and working jigsaw puzzles. Any kind or type of puzzle and difficult riddles. He always wanted to know how different things worked and took things apart just to put them back together correctly. He amassed an extensive collection of many hundreds of DVDs and was an avid collector of stamps, coins, spoons, animal cards, but mostly collected all types of sports memorabilia, especially the Seattle Seahawks, the Seattle Mariners and notably the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit editions.

Darrell was deeply sentimental and kept every birthday and Christmas card as well as all the letters he had ever received. At the end of his life, all he watched on TV were Christmas feel good movies. A Christmas theme was on every coffee mug in his cupboard.

Being deaf never held Darrell back at anything he ever wanted to do. For example, Darrell was a very good driver using his eyesight to compensate for his deafness and he never got a ticket. He never once considered himself handicapped in any way. He was a very hard worker and always helped when family or friends asked.

He was a funny fellow and liked pranking you and joking around. Darrell was always looking for an opportunity to put one over on you. He was a terrific dancer keeping time to the music by feeling the beat on a wooden dance floor or feeling the deep sounds of the bass guitar and drums in his chest and under his feet. Every 4th of July Darrell loved going down by the marina to see the fireworks and feel the loud booms of the heavy fireworks.

Darrell loved animals. Over the years he had several different dogs and cats. He was often asked to look after friend's animals if they left town for an extended time. His last pet was "George" the cat. George gave Darrell great joy and companionship. They would play together for hours.

Darrell is survived by his four sisters, Katie Hyre and Erin Welsh both of Anacortes, Patricia Smith and Christy Dodson both of Sacramento CA. his stepmother Mary Harju Stevens of Anacortes, his daughter Bekah Hawthorne of Tacoma WA, and six grandchildren. Plus, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews in Washington and California.

Darrell was generous and witty. strong, helpful, kind, smart, and had a great sense of humor. He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed by all.

A Celebration of Life for Darrell will be held at the Silverwood Apartments Common Room at 1103 29th Street in Anacortes on Sunday, February 16th at 1:00pm. Refreshments will be served.