Don Backstrom, 81, passed away June 11, 2008, in the caring hands of Regency on Whidbey and his seven children. Don was born in Arlington, Wash., June 4, 1927, to Henry and Elvira Backstrom. He graduated from Arlington High School, serving the US Army in WWII. He graduated from the University of Washington and joined his father in the family business, Backstrom Motors, the Ford dealership in Arlington. In 1962, Don moved to Bellevue and joined the Boeing Company. With Boeing Computer Services, Don spent time in Seattle, Alaska, Tri Cities, Vancouver, B.C., and Florida, retiring in 1988. Don and Joanne built their retirement home on the shores of Whidbey Island and he continued to enjoy his many outdoor activities.

In his younger years, he had a passion for scuba diving. He volunteered with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office on water rescue and recovery. He spent many winters working at Stevens Pass doing avalanche control, and was an active member of the Penguin Ski Club. This provided opportunity for his seven children to be a part of his activities and expose them to a family passion of skiing. Don enjoyed fishing in Puget Sound, Canada or any fresh water lake. He enjoyed hunting was very proud of his vegetable gardening.

Preceding Don in death was his wife of 54 years, Joanne.

He is survived by his seven close children, Katherine McCausland (Paul), Snohomish, Linda Reininger (Rick), Issaquah, Don Backstrom Jr, (Loretta) Camano Island, Leanne Griswold (Gary), Seattle, Chris Backstrom, Whidbey Island, Stace Marcin (Dave), Curlew, Kim Andrews (Patrick), Coupeville; and 11 grandchildren.

We are proud of who we are and successful because of what he gave us. Thank you, we love you and you will be missed.

A celebration of life gathering will be Tuesday, July 22, at 3 p.m., Camano Island Senior Community Center, 606 Arrow Head Road, camanocenter.org. If you would like to send story or memory of Don to be read, please bring to service or email kimbandrews@hotmail.com.