William Joseph Baumgart
October 16, 1935 - September 20, 2012
Obituary
William Joseph Baumgart (Bill), age 76, died peacefully on Thursday, September 20, 2012 in Shelton Washington. Bill is survived by his wife of 57 years, Shirley. Other family members include two daughters, Pamela Stenslie and Melanie Farrar; two sons, Matthew Baumgart and Stephen Baumgart; four grandchildren, Kyra Stenslie (Marco Grados) and Brynn Stenslie, Tyler Farrar and Isaac Farrar; sister, Marybeth Fox (Tom); nephews, Hank Baumgart (Erin), Kurt Baumgart (Kela), Jim Baumgart (Tanya), Doug Baumgart (Danielle), Kyle Fox (Jenna); nieces, Sarah Fox and Lisa Ledford (John).
Bill was born in Seattle and moved to Port Angeles in the eighth grade, graduating from Port Angeles High School in 1953. He continued his education at the Western Washington College of Education in Bellingham where he met Shirley. Bill and Shirley married in 1955. He graduated from the College with a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1957. He taught one year in Port Townsend at Fort Worden State Department of Corrections.
Bill moved to Seattle in 1958, where he continued his teaching career for 29 years at Foster High School in Tukwila, teaching History, Government, and World Affairs. He was the Foster High School baseball coach; highly respected by his players, who have kept in contact over the years. He also was Athletic Director for the South Central School District and was inducted into the Washington State Athletic Director’s Hall of Fame in 1989. After 30 years in the classroom, he retired in 1988.
Vacation property on Pickering Passage in Shelton was purchased in 1979, where weekends and summers were spent developing the property and building a house. As much as Bill enjoyed yard work, two yards became too much and they moved to their vacation home in 2004, enjoying the quiet, peacefulness of the beach.
Traveling became their favorite pastime. Cruises were taken to Alaska, around the islands of Hawaii and Tahiti, through the Panama Canal, around South America, along the coast of Norway, and around the Mediterranean Sea. They welcomed in the 21st century in the Caribbean. On the cruise to Lima Peru and back, they visited the Latin America countries and every port along the Mexican coast.
On the land tours, Bill and Shirley were able to interact with the locals. They were invited into their homes for lunch. It gave them an opportunity to understand the culture of each country. The travels took them to Thailand, China, England, Ireland, Mexico, South America, Russia, the war torn countries of the former Yugoslavia and the many countries of Europe.
Bill spent many hours creating their unique Christmas cards of all their travels. Remembrances may be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, 811 West Evergreen Ave., Suite 204, Chicago IL 60642. www.PulmonaryFibrosisFoundation.org
Bill always wanted the best for kids, whether it was playing conditions, schedules or coaches, and he never compromised on excellence in the classroom. Students loved him because they knew he cared about them while maintaining high standards. A stalwart Bulldog that will be sadly missed. Thanks for all you did for the kids.
Our relationship with Bill and Shirley goes back to the 1950s as students at Western Washington University. Who would have guessed that the two of us and Bill would all end up teaching in the Tukwila School District (the South Central School District at that time).
Bill was appreciated by many for his character, sense of humor and his commitment to the students, staff and parents of Foster High School. He sure will be missed.
A very classy guy
I did not have the privilege of knowing Mr. Baumgart, but learned of his passing through his daughter, Pam. As I read his biography, what an adventurist life Mr. Baumgart lived with his wife, Shirley. Dear Mrs. Baumgart, my dear friend Pam and family, my deepest condolences to you. May the happy memories you hold in your heart help to ease the sadness of your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Sincerely,
Kathleen and John
What a beautiful writing and memory of Bill and the life you had together. Love
I had the pleasure of knowing Bill for 50 years as friend, player, student, and fellow Foster teacher during the early 70s. A great coach, teacher, friend and always a gentleman.
I knew Bill way back at Foster when I was one of his students and baseball players back in the early 70’s. He was also my Athletic Director when I returned to the school as a football and softball coach. The last time I saw him was a few years ago at one of our class reunions and talked for a long time. Thanks for all you did for me, and others, for many years.
I have very fond memories of Mr. Baumgart from my high school years at Foster, both as a classroom teacher and as our AD. Our family will keep yours in our prayers.
I always admired Bill.He was smart, witty and could always make you smile.He was my big brother and I will miss him. Shirley you did an excellent job in reviewing the beautiful life you and Bill shared. I admire your adventurous spirit.
I have great memories of my time on Bill’s baseball team and in in classes. He was always one of my favorite teachers. It is strange, but I have repeated some of his stories more and more recently. I especially liked his story about his graduation from Port Angeles High School. He was one of my favorite and most memorable teachers.