Robert William Dupar

Robert William Dupar, Sr., 86, passed away January 12th, 2013. He was the fourth of eight children born to Frank A. Dupar, Sr. and Ethel Leona Gilbert Dupar. He was born February 14, 1926, at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Washington. He spent the majority of his years enjoying life in the Puget Sound area of Washington, and later Palm Desert, California, in his retirement years. He was proud to be a member of the Class of 1940A of Laurelhurst Grammar School. He and his classmates had regular reunions for years. He graduated from Seattle'?s Roosevelt High School in 1943, and attended the University of Washington. College was interrupted by the Second World War when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps where he was trained as an aerial photographer. He was sent to Japan in the fall of 1945, where he participated in the aerial mapping of the Japanese islands, and was honorably discharged in 1946. After the war, he continued his education at the University of Washington, and then transferred to the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. It was at Cornell that he met and married Jessie Jane Gladys Polson on June 4, 1949. They shared a life together for 63 '_ years. Bob took his bride west to begin his hotel career as a front desk clerk at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, California. While in California, Bob and Jessie'?s first child, Cathy, was born. In 1953, Bob was transferred to the Cascadian Hotel in Wenatchee, Washington, where he later became general manager. It was here that both Bob, Jr. (Corky) and Patty were born. He managed hotels in Spokane, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, before moving in 1959 to the corporate offices of Western International Hotels, Inc. in Seattle. He served as Vice President and as a member of the Board of Directors. He was also Executive Vice President of International Western Hotels, the subsidiary supervising the company'?s Latin American properties, traveling extensively in Mexico, Central, and South America. He brought back many souvenirs of his travels that were fascinating to his children, including a llama rug from Peru. He also traded a mirror and comb for a spear and dart gun on a visit to a Pygmy village on the Amazon River. Bob retired from hotel operations in the spring of 1969 and the Board of Directors in 1972. After leaving WIH, Bob joined his sister, Dorothy Dupar Lynch, and brother, Jim, in building and operating the Holiday Inn of Bellevue, Washington. The family ran the Inn until 1997. Bob was a trusted businessman and generous with his time, so as his responsibilities in hotel operations diminished, he began to volunteer his service to a number of charitable organizations in the Seattle area and beyond. He was a Trustee of the Dupar Foundation, a charitable foundation in Seattle, awarding grants to support youth, health care, and educational non-profit organizations. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees and President of Presbyterian Ministries, Inc., which operated Retirement Residences for the Presbyterian Synod and was a board member and President of King County Camp Fire Girls, who kept changing their by-laws regarding term length so they could keep him on as President. He was Vice President and a Board member of United Way King County and on the National Advisory Board of the Salk Biological Institute of La Jolla, California. He took his son-in-law Gregg to one meeting where they visited with Jonas Salk, the discoverer of the Salk polio vaccine. His longest standing commitment to an organization was his involvement with Seattle General Hospital which later merged into Swedish Medical Center, where he had been born. He served faithfully on the Board of Directors and retired in 2005 as Trustee Emeritus of the Board with over 38 years of service. Bob and Jessie spent many years together sharing the company of long-time friends in dance clubs, bridge clubs, weekly tennis dates, and investment clubs. His laughter was booming and infectious. People always knew when he was nearby. Bob and Jessie were avid boaters, owning three different boats. They joined Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club in 1968, where they were very active and he served as Commodore from 1978-79. Following his stint as Commodore he volunteered for the position of Club Historian and published the first book on the history of Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club. The family shares many fond memories of the years boating, rendezvousing with friends and family at marinas from Puget Sound in Washington, to Princess Louisa Inlet in British Columbia. It was a rite of passage when a grandchild could read and accompany Grandpa and Grandma on a cruise. Bob cultivated within his children and grandchildren a love of fine music as his stereo boomed over the waterways selections from Mitch Miller, the Big Bands, the Osmond Brothers Boys Quartet, Kingston Trio, and the Smothers Brothers. After the boating years, Bob and Jessie enjoyed cruising the Chaparral Country Club in their golf cart. They have enjoyed wonderful friendships, golf, and the sun and warmth of Palm Desert since 1991. Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and many friends joined them for a respite from the northern cold over the years. Bob was preceded in death by his brother, Jack Dupar, who was killed during the Second World War; his father Frank A. Dupar in 1960; his 91-year-old mother, Ethel, in 1987; sister Dorothy Dupar Lynch; brothers Frank A. Dupar, Jr. and James W. Dupar. Bob is survived by his wife, Jessie, of Palm Desert, CA; daughter Cathleen and husband, Gregg Oliver, of Winthrop, WA; son Robert W. Dupar, Jr. and wife, Brigid, of Bellevue, WA; daughter Patricia and husband, Mark Meredith of Sammamish, WA; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; his sister, Marilyn Dupar McIntosh of Vancouver, British Columbia; Thomas Dupar of Washington state and his youngest brother, Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Dupar of Cromarty, Rossshire, Scotland. Bob was a storyteller and joke sharer extraordinaire, as well as an encourager to his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. He shared his sound advice with them into his last days. Bob'?s stories, jokes, and infectious laughter were heard in Puget Sound marinas, corporate boardrooms from Seattle to San Diego, and family gatherings from Seattle to Hood Canal to Palm Desert. We have lost another of the Greatest Generation. A celebration of life will be held on March 10th at 2pm at Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club in Bellevue, WA. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Dupar Foundation, PO Box 2060, North Bend, WA 98045.