Danny George ENGLE

1941 - 2025

ENGLE, Danny George Feb 8, 1941 - Jul 31, 2025 Danny George Engle, 84, died July 31, 2025. He was born in Spokane as the 2nd of 7 children to Earl and Helen Engle. Danny grew up farming on Deer Lake and in Clayton. The Deer Lake farm was situated on a spectacularly beautiful estuary, now part of Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge. The family moved to Deer Park in the mid-1950s, where Earl opened Earl's Tire Shop. Danny attended Upper Columbia Academy and graduated from Auburn Adventist Academy. He enlisted in the USMC in 1960, was recognized as the best marksman in his battalion with the Expert Rifle Badge and served as Special Radio Operator with Top Secret clearance at sensitive listening stations in Turkey and Bremerhaven, GE, where he met his first spouse, Helke. They married in 1963 and because it was the Cold War and she was German, Corporal Engle lost his TS clearance, was reassigned to Camp Lejeune and transitioned to civilian life. They moved to Chicago, Dan studied electronics at DeVry Univ. and sons Steven and Christopher were born. After graduating, Dan was hired by Boeing and they moved to Seattle. Dan left Boeing in 1967 to join the Seattle Police Department. Dan later earned his BA from the Univ. of Puget Sound. Dan had a grand career with SPD. He worked patrol his first two years, then promoted to detective, served in Fraud and Bunco and on the SPD bomb squad. His bomb squad time was during the turbulent '70s and he/his team were called upon to defuse, detonate, and investigate numerous bombs set by militant groups, including fatal pipe bombings in a Capitol Hill grocery and a Seattle Center substation. Dan moved to Homicide in the late 70's, serving there for many years. He investigated many of the most notorious and tragic homicides in Seattle's history. His uncanny ability to solve cases earned him great respect and he was even featured in an episode of Cold Case Files as the lone holdout to charging the prime suspect to a brutal murder, which years later proved right when DNA evidence implicated somebody else. Dan also served as security for the entirety of the NASL Seattle Sounders, from 1975 at Memorial Stadium until the league folded in 1983 and developed friendships with many players, coaches and team personnel. When Dan promoted to Sergeant, he transferred to patrol, then Harbor Patrol and finally back to Homicide. Dan was divorced in 1981 and stepped up to be the boys primary care giver. In 1986, Dan married Jan Ruhl, a fellow SPD officer. Jan also had a distinguished career with SPD, joining in 1964, serving in the "Women's Bureau", Narcotics, the "Fencing Squad" and after promotion to Lieutenant, watch commander at the North Precinct and in the Robbery unit. Dan & Jan retired together in 1991 and moved to the Big Island of Hawaii where they lived until Jan's passing in 2024. It was obvious to all that Dan & Jan loved each other very much, enjoyed every minute living together in Paradise and were truly happy spending 40 years together. They pursued many interests, like operating a macadamia nut farm, a Kona coffee farm and a charter fishing boat, working security at Kona Airport, selling real estate and delivering meals for elderly/homebound. They shared many incredible adventures, like piloting small aircraft, sailing, skippering a boat through the Inside Passage, Desolation Sound and Alaska, SCUBA diving, and owning a thoroughbred, Jan's Grey Pop, who won numerous Longacres races. They especially loved to travel, boating through the canals of France, exploring the hill towns of Italy, visiting Heidelberg where Steve was stationed in the Army, enjoying the sights of Sao Paulo when Chris lived there, climbing to the peaks of Machu Pichu, experiencing the jungles of Costa Rica and taking in the wonders of the Galapagos Islands. Danny George Engle is survived by his sons, Steven (Kathy) and Christopher (John), stepdaughter Kimberly (Corey) Branch, grandchildren Dora, Sophie, Parker, Samuel, Chloe, and Angela, six siblings, Earl, Christina, Tamara, Penelope, Deborah, and James. He is predeceased by his parents, beloved wife Jan, and stepson, Michael Judd. We thank the kind and skilled professionals at GenCare, Point Ruston, Eliseo Tacoma, Tacoma General and the Seattle Police Pension team. All who wish to celebrate Dan & Jan's lives, service and contributions are welcome to attend a joint memorial with honors at the Seattle Police Athletic Association Pavilion, Tukwila, Saturday, 2 p.m., January 3, 2026.