Coleman Stockdale Leuthy

Just recently , I went by phil's (brother) old place in Redmond, and I thought, wow where are they ,Phil and Coleman? It's probably been 40 years, It took a few minutes to remember complete names and spelling, but wow, here I am what a shame it could not have been a few months earlier. Coleman was my mentor, for skiing , what an inspiration,a truly remarkable man with such zest for life. He gave me such confidence in what I was capable of , I know it has been instrumental in the rest of my life, I''m deeply saddened to hear he is gone, If any one knows of Phils whereabouts?
Please contact me ,, Dennis Richards  253 431 0363  or
dennric3@aol.com

Sincerely ,Dennis

I remember him from NW Ski school in the 70's..what a great guy.  I am so sorry he passed away...

A water trip on Lake Chelan, camping overnight, mushrooms and more mushrooms.

Red wine, sailing on the lake.

Sitting by the fireplace, drinking wine (of course) in Coleman's house by the U. of W.

Husky games which I attended. Coleman would let me park my car at his place, and I could walk to Husky Stadium.

Coleman didn't care for sports (teams) like I did, but he understood my passion.

Coleman, my memories and thoughts of you never ceased. We may not have been in contact over the years, but
I never forgot you. Your memory lives on.  Be at peace.

Paul G.

Coleman was a friend of the family. I and my wife (Millie) were associates of his in the Puget Sound Mycological Society & the North American Rock Garden Society.
HE WILL BE MISSED!

Remembering Coleman Leuthy

(by Hans J. Sauter)

My wife and I met Coleman Leuthy in the mid-1960s, on our first Hitchcock field trip after we had taken Hitchy’s plant identification night class for the first time (we took it again several years later, to make it stick).  Coleman even then was a remarkable expert onPacific Northwestnative flora, and also a wily recipient of Hitchy’s banter.  His copy of the 1973 one-volume Hitchcock Flora of thePacific Northwestbecame legendary - it was tattered close to disintegrating, and full of Coleman’s countless handwritten augmentations.  We continued to meet him on annual (or more frequent) field trips, and  became good friends; we also visited Coleman occasionally on his “Ranch” on Eagle Creek in the eastern foothills of the Cascades (where Heidi, his small dog, learned to tolerate us).

Over time we joined the Northwestern Chapter of the Rock Garden Society, where Coleman was an indispensable mover and shaker.  Beginning in the late 1970s my wife Lyn and I faithfully went to all of the annual Study Weekends of the American Rock Garden Society, and gradually we also became involved in working on those events which were staged by the Seattle Chapter, usually every three years (the host chapters rotated variably from Oregon or California to British Columbia, with Western Washington in between).  Coleman proved himself to be a formidable arranger of hotel bookings and anything else having to do with the Study weekends.

He remained a tireless worker for the local NARGS Chapter, and a cherished companion on field and other trips.   In the summer of 1996 I went with Coleman (and a small group of other enthusiasts) on a full month’s excursion toChinaandPakistan, arranged by Keren Su.  Coleman and I took a memorable string of hikes at various stages of the journey - in the steppes in the southern outskirts of Mongolia (on a drenching rainy day - we got soaked, but the landscapes were magical); above Heaven Lake near Mount Bogdo Ola;  around Kashgar in Sinkiang, and the climax: A day hike from our abode at 10,000 feet by lesser Karakul Lake in the Pamirs to above 14,000 feet on Mustagh Ata, a magnificent mountain in extreme western China which had first been attempted by Sven Hedin a century ago.

On we went, down theKarakoram Highwayto Hunza, a true gem, and Gilgit (where Coleman made me buy a rug in a bookstore), and eventuallyIslamabad, where we had our farewell American style lunch at the Marriott Inn (destined to have its front blown away by terrorists in 2008).

One more major trip with Coleman was inPeruandBoliviain 1999, once again with long hikes in the mountains and on Isla del Sol inLake Titicaca.

And not long after the millennium Coleman developed his multiple myeloma, and over a couple of years he lost almost a foot in height, as some of his vertebrae gradually disintegrated.  I never admired him more than in the last few years of his life when he coped with his slowly progressing fatal disease, and still had the pluck to celebrate his 80^th birthday in grand style on his farm on Eagle Creek, and kept coming to the NARGS meetings until the very last.

My wife and I and untold others will remember Coleman for the rest of our lives as a splendid, sage, and courageous individual, an ardent and profoundly learned plantsman, and a diligent worker for the Mycological Society and the Rock Garden Society, and the generations of students he taught.  He was admired and loved by all of us, and we will remember him as long as we live.

FromSam Grubb
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