Rollin E. Van Valkenburgh, 90

Rollin E. Van Valkenburgh, 90, of the Puget Sound area, died May 3, 2003.

A memorial service was held May 23 at his son’s house in Snohomish, Wash.

Rollin Eugene Van Valkenburgh was born Sept. 12, 1912, in Ainsworth to the Rev. Hugh Clifford and Mary Jane Van Valkenburgh.

Shortly after his birth, the family moved to a homestead on the Rosebud Sioux reservation near White River, S.D., where his father was a missionary pastor of the Congregational Church.

Church policy led to more moves during his youth, and he found himself growing up in Deadwood, S.D., Casper, Wyo., and finally, Arlington.

During the Depression, he found work in Omaha, where he at lunches in a local restaurant. One of the waitresses, a 16-year-old girl named Marma Else, caught his eye, and after a six-year courtship, they began a marriage that would last more than 60 years.

In 1938, Mr. Van Valkenburgh moved to Seattle to join his brother, Hugh Carlos. He became involved in local outdoor activities, and was associated with Ome Daiber, Olaf Ulland, and other well-known outdoorsmen.

During the war, he worked first for the Navy, then for Pacific Car and Foundry. With peace, he and his brother formed a series of entrepreneurial companies, mostly involved in overseas trade.

One of these, begun in 1948, was Alaska Wrangell Mills Inc., which owned a sawmill in Alaska. Over time, this became his sole focus and, by the 1960s, the little sawmill became the largest in the state of Alaska. With the sale of the mill in 1973 to a Japanese company, he retired.

Throughout his life, Mr. Van Valkenburgh had “itchy feet” and loved to travel. As a young teen, he drove his father from Nebraska to the West Coast, stopping at all the sights along the way. As an adult, he traveled extensively in Asia, spending a month or two every year in Japan. With retirement, this “itch” increased, and during the years that followed, he set foot on every continent except Antarctica. He also loved gardening and spent many happy hours transplanting geraniums and tending his rhododendrons.

He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Jayne Van Valkenburgh of Snohomish, Wash., daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Marc Rea of Mazama, Wash.; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and his sister, Louise Thompson of Arlington.