Arlene Wade, instrumental in the creation of the Log House Museum and Duwamish Longhouse, has died at age 69. Here’s the remembrance we’ve received to share with you:
Arlene Hinderlie Wade (1943-2013) passed away on March 25 after a 13-year battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Arlene grew up in Port Orchard. She was the 1963 Seafair Queen during the ‘Century 21’ Seattle World’s Fair.
As President of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society in the 1990s, Arlene led the campaign to create the Log House Museum. She insisted on telling the story of the American settlers alongside that the Duwamish people, whose cause she championed for two decades. She shaped “The Spirit Returns” exhibit at the new Log House in 2000, which was the first time the story of the Duwamish and the American settlers was told side by side under one roof.
Paul Dorpat decribed her in his Seattle Then and Now column:
“Arlene’s smarts, energy, and sincerity were dominating and the cabin is now quite a nifty museum for West Seattle history – thanks in great measure to the 1963 Seafair Queen.”
Arlene and her husband George worked with the tribe to secure the land where the Duwamish Longhouse now stands.
Arlene co-founded the Seattle Chamber Music Festival with Toby Saks in 1982 and served on the board of the Cornish College of the Arts. Arlene frequently accompanied her son, Brady, on the violin.
She was also a mental health counselor with a MSW from the UW and three years of advanced training at the Seattle Psychoanalytic Institute.
A celebration of life is being planned.
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