Coleman Stockdale Leuthy

Coleman:

was as hands-on a mentor to me as any I have ever called my teacher. It's taken me nearly six years since his passing to come to grips with his influence. Coleman was affable, gregarious, and gifted. As skilled a botanist with vascular plants, especially grasses, as he was with fungi (our shared passion). An avid outdoorsman. A smooth and polished skier. A member of the Mountaineers (as it turns out many of my teachers were).

He was also, on many occasions my transportation to and from the woods where fungi grew. His large, aging Chevy Suburban, license plate "FESTUCA" after the genus of tufted, perennial, flowering grasses, and his small companion dog, which may have changed over the years, but the best of which I remember as being "Tuffy..." Packed with gear for presentations and weekends at remote camps in mountains... As part of the Pacific Northwest Key Council, where a group of us gathered twice a year to work on writing dichotomous keys for the identification of Pacific Northwest mushrooms.

My aquaintence with Coleman began long ago in the early 70s. I was just out  of college and wanted to work as a ski instructor at Snoqualmie Pass. When I finally got issued my classes, the best part of the day was having lunch with Coleman, usualling in his camper. We drank a fine wine every Sat. for lunch. It came in a 1 gallon bottle so you can imagine the quality. The quality didnt really matter it was the company that was so much fun. Needless to say our afternoon classes went much better than the morning classes. I never taught skiing after that one year but the impression he left on me has endured. Such good times and the regret of never seeing Coleman again after that year is just the way life is. Sorry for the loss to your family Coleman and I will lift a glass of fine wine to your afterlife. Regretfully yours                Don Smith  , Renton , wa.

Had it not been for Coleman Leuthy, I would have most likely eaten the wrong mushroom.

REMEMBRANCES OF OUR FRIEND COLEMAN LEUTHY 

I first met Coleman in 1947. We climbed Mt. Rainier with the Seattle Mountaineers. Coleman, Paul Williams and I were on a rope together. A grand experience for me as a 17 year old who had just graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle. 

We climbed Mt. Rainier early in the season. I was on that adventure with my high school friend Enid Holt. We were camped together on Steamboat Prow. Looking from our perch down to the Emmons glacier we experienced the hollowness of sound in the vastness of space of the mountain-scape as rocks and ice broke off from the slopes of Rainier. 

Snuggling down in my sleeping bag early in the night since we would be arising at 1 AM I remember keeping my boots in my sleeping bag so they wouldn’t be too frozen when I put them on. They still were very stiff. Add to that the need to also put on your crampons before tramping up the rocky trail and onto the Emmons Glacier. 

Vivid memories of the line of flash lights, the sound of boots stomping on the icy snow. Awareness of making sure the rope that connected you to your teammates was not dragging on the snow. The steady climbing and making use of the rest step to keep enough oxygen going into your lungs. 

One wonderful memory that has remained with me all these years was the shadow of Mt. Rainier out over the valley, becoming larger and large as the sun rose – what an awesome sight. As we climbed higher and higher we were climbing on very hard snow. Very essential to keep all points of the crampons on the snow for security. My awareness was also of the deep and dark blue of the sky as we climbed higher and higher. I was also aware that I needed energy. I had decided not to eat before starting that early morning to climb. A big mistake, I learned by that experience never to climb without eating first. As it happened, when I ate food I couldn’t keep it down and poor Coleman, who was going to eat a dried fig put his snack back into his day pack. 

It was a grand adventure to reach the summit. On the return to high camp I had one very scary experience, Paul and Coleman walking ahead of me, the sun streaming down on us and I was in a quiet mood when all of a sudden my right leg plunged into a crevasse. Luckily my right leg just went into my hip and I was able to get out. Looking down into the hole I had created it was very deep and green. As the day warmed up, the snow becomes soft so good reason to be down off the upper slopes by late morning. 

After that climb of Mt. Rainier with Coleman, our lives seemed to be connected in may ways. Being members of the Mountaineers we climbed together, skied together and Bill also became a good friend of Colemans since they taught school together at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle. 

Coleman taught chemistry and a course in Mushrooms. Coleman was active in so many different directions. He loved to ski and we shared many years of teaching skiing at Snoqualmie Pass. We all became certified ski instructors together. 

We enjoyed visiting Coleman at his farm near Leavenworth. He was an avid member of the Mushroom Society and the Rock Garden Society and added much to each of these associations. 

Through all the years we knew him we have such great memories of sharing our love of the outdoors. He will be and is missed by the Brockman family. Bill, Mary Jane, Sloan & Steve.

 

Coleman Leuthy

Many revered him as a scholarly teacher in the sciences. Just as many heralded him as a botanist who could identify a thousand different mushrooms. Others knew him as one of the smoothest skiers in the Pacific Northwest, whose keen scrutiny served as the gateway for many certified ski instructors. There were those who knew him as a National Park Service Ranger, and at The Mountaineers lodges as a man who could repair a tractor with baling wire and spare bolts from a box in the barn.
A Mountaineers member for 66 years, Coleman died February 1, 2012 at the age of 81 after a four-year bout with cancer. Coleman, who matriculated through The Mountaineers climbing and ski courses upon joining the organization in 1946, served in the Army as a first lieutenant, worked as a park ranger in the Olympics and Mt. Rainier National Park, and was a highly respected member of the Puget Sound Mycological Society. He was just as highly regarded as a driving force in the Rock Garden Society.
Coleman hiked thousands of miles of trails and blazed trails on the Ptarmigan Traverse. When not traversing the mountains he could be found fixing equipment at Meany Lodge, where he volunteered countless hours, or simply indulging himself with classical music and ballet. He also loved to sail and was very knowledgeable in Northwest marine biology.
He had traveled to all seven continents—from China to Pakistan, to the Alps and Kamchatka, to Denali and the Danube, and from Peru to Bolivia.
His expertise in botany brought him to Alaska to add Latin monikers to plant species of the tundra that formerly had only Alaskan names.
His students, associates, friends, hiking mates and loved ones remember him as a splendid sage, a courageous individual, and a profoundly learned botanist.

from the Mountaineer newsletter/magazine, May/June 2012.