William Scholen

William Arthur Scholen died December 14, 2017 at Valley Medical Center, Renton from complications of Waldenstroms, a rare form of blood cancer. He was 87 years old. Bill was born in Seattle to Edward and Kathryn (Grover) Scholen. He attended Seattle schools and spent summers with his family at their Whidbey Island cabin. Bill graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1948, then worked at the Federal Reserve Bank before serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1951-1953. Following discharge, he enrolled at Central Washington College in Ellensburg on the G.I. Bill. During college summers, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a fire guard in the Olympic National Forest.

In his first month at Central, he met Joanne Anderson at a Lutheran Students Association meeting, and they were later married on June 11, 1955. Bill graduated with a B.A. in Education in 1957 and received the Smyser Award in History. He did post-graduate work at the University of Washington and Seattle University. Bill taught high school history and social studies in the South Central and Highline Districts for 27 years and retired from Tyee High School in 1985. After retirement, he pursued his lifelong love of literature by becoming a “writer of stories” and wrote several books. These are available as e-books on Amazon.com.

In addition to books, he loved music and movies, attending local theater productions, and taking yearly trips to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with his wife. Bill enjoyed the creativity involved in working on his home and cabin, and during his life maintained an active lifestyle through walking, camping, and hiking.

Family was very important to Bill, and he was very proud of his daughters and granddaughters. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Joanne (Renton); daughters Barbara Scholen (Seattle); daughter Elizabeth Anderson and husband, Ron (Buckley); and granddaughters Jillian, Kaitlin, and Rachel Williams (Buckley). Other survivors include his nephew Jeffrey Scholen (John’s Creek, GA), niece Michele Cortese (New York), and brother-in-law David Kalles and nieces and nephews in Canada. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Douglas Scholen, and sister-in-law Alice Kalles.