Martha “Marty” McLaren, a past West Seattle/South Park representative on the
Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, has died. Ms. McLaren, a Puget Ridge resident, was 76 years old. She was a longtime educator and community advocate, but her highest-profile role was that of board member. She won election in 2011 by unseating incumbent
Steve Sundquist and then four years later was unseated herself by current board member
Leslie Harris. We talked with Ms. McLaren after her election in 2011; she spoke of her teaching career following her involvement with advocacy as a PTA leader while her children were in school. More details on her life are in her obituary, which we’ve just received:
Richard (Dick) Simon Gohl passed away peacefully at home in Sweet Home, Oregon, on Nov. 12, 2020, surrounded by his family.
Dick was born on March 14, 1934 in Ahtanum, Washington. He graduated from Yakima High School in 1951. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953-1956 as a 1st Lieutenant in the Airborne Infantry, and was honorably discharged. He graduated from Washington State University in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. He married Mary Jean Buell in 1961, and they were married 52 years before her passing in 2013. Dick worked for the Dept. of Interior until his retirement in 1989. His work took him from Oregon to Utah to Alaska, then back to Oregon after his retirement, where he and Mary settled in Sweet Home in 1992.