Vito Trifone Chiechi

Vito Trifone Chiechi
July 22, 1925 - July 26, 2011

Concluding a life lived to the fullest, Vito Chiechi died peacefully at home, two days after his family gathered to celebrate his 86th birthday. Vito's world revolved around family and politics. He was a man of great family values, devoted to his wife and their nine children. Lively conversations around the dinner table were a nightly tradition, where the children recited their day's events and developed sophisticated palates. As the family expanded, the topics changed to political debates and family memories of summer camping vacations. He encouraged his grandchildren to dream full lives.
After twenty years with the Boeing Company, Vito went on to become an institution in Washington state politics, serving in numerous professional capacities, including administrative assistant to a democrat Speaker of the House, Co-chief Clerk and then Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives; Federal Regional Administrator of the General Services Administration for Region 10, a presidential appointment; Chief of Staff to the House Republican Caucus; and contract lobbyist for an eclectic group of clients from the Pacific Science Center to card rooms to Coinstar. As a strategist, he played an instrumental role in the success of many candidates in legislative, congressional and presidential races. After his 1978 election victories that took state House Republicans from a 36-seat minority to a 49-49 split with Democrats, Vito helped brainstorm an amicable shared leadership plan to ensure a productive legislative session. In addition to his public affairs consulting firm, he founded two companies, one to facilitate campaigning through the distribution of mailing lists and voter data and one to conduct government affairs seminars for business executives.
Vito cared deeply about the legislature as an institution and about the vitality of the democratic process. He urged young people to run for public office and all citizens to demonstrate their convictions by getting involved in politics, whatever their views. In 2009, he co-founded the Jennifer Dunn Leadership Institute to offer seminars for future Republican leaders. Believing the chasm between left and right could be made smaller by sharing a plate of pasta and a glass of wine, his annual dinner gatherings mixing Italian cuisine and political discourse enlivened every legislative session. Vito will be remembered for speaking his mind, for his sage advice to candidates and those elected on both sides of the aisle, for his integrity, his humor and his zest for life.
When a stroke confined him to a wheelchair in 1997, Vito traded his downtown Olympia office for a computer screen and Bluetooth at home, a professional lifestyle made possible by the steadfast support of his family members as well as long time caregiver, Klaus. He continued to further causes he believed in and to live with great gusto whether working behind the scenes to pass a bill or organizing a family pasta-sauce cook-off.
Though his health began to decline in May, the inconvenience of trips to the hospital did not diminish his desire to be a force for good or his interest in the world condition. He remained a stimulating conversationalist on such topics as the Arab Spring, the federal debt ceiling debate and the 2012 presidential election. Though his body finally gave out, to the end Vito remained a man of vigorous mind, boundless energy and big dreams, with much left to accomplish.
Vito graduated from Seattle University, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was a first generation Italian-American. His wife of over 52 years, Dolores, died in 2004. He is survived by their nine children, Chris (Jacque), Steve, Douglas, Victoria (Brant), Gina, Donna (Steve), Michael (Lori), Maria (Bryon), and Dolores, 24 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. A "retirement party" to celebrate Vito's life is being planned in Olympia for 2pm August 24, 2011 at the State Capitol Rotunda. The family has asked donations in his memory be made to Providence Sound HomeCare Hospice Fund, 3432 South Bay Rd NE, Olympia, 98506. If you would like to leave his family a note, please go to www.funeralalternatives.org/index.php