Robert Frank Dawson

June 9, 1927 – September 23, 2015

Robert Frank Dawson, longtime resident of Bainbridge Island, died on Wednesday, September 23, 2015.

Legally known as Robert, he preferred “Bob” and was known to his family and friends as “Papa.” He is survived by four children; Christine (Dawson) Danielsen, Alela (Dawson) Tallon, Brett Dawson, and Pamela (Dawson) Thresher as well as 8 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren ( 2 on the way), and a multitude of family and friends.

Born in White Bluffs, WA, on June 9th, 1927, Bob was one of three boys born to Frank and Esther Dawson. Like their father, they were a rough and tumble bunch, all of them avid outdoorsmen and adventurers who trapped animals for food and fur. They mined gold, fished, and farmed. Living simply off the land in the Manashtash Valley near Ellensburg, Washington. Bob loved to tell his grandchildren about this time with great detail; from bringing his water into the house from a well, to skinning rabbits to his mis-adventures going to school in a one-room school house. His grandchildren hung on every word. To him, his childhood was idyllic and joyful; full of hard work and hard lessons.

Bob met and married his beloved JoAnn Knutson in 1953. They moved to Bellevue, but eventually settled down on the northern tip of Bainbridge Island to raise their children. Bob built their house using reclaimed, and scrap lumber, preferring to pay his helpers in favors and smoked salmon. They started with a one room cabin and had to add more and more as their family grew. Bainbridge is where they met and kept lifelong friends who became a lot more like family. Bob and JoAnn enjoyed nearly 60 years of marriage filled with traveling, laughter, fishing, bird-watching, theatre, and opera before JoAnn preceded him in death in 2013.

Always acutely interested in how things work and in exploring the world, Bob never hesitated to try new things. In his earlier years, he served as a jeep driver and radio operator in the Korean War raised mink with his father and traded furs in Seattle, was a logger, a school bus driver, a real estate salesman, and had a long career as a much-beloved teacher at both Wolfle and Poulsbo Elementary schools in Kitsap County. An avid gardener all his life, he continued growing flowers and food after retirement, which he sold locally and either fed or tried to feed everyone who came through his door. He was an accomplished cook, known for making enormous batches of family favorites like clam chowder and smoked salmon. He especially loved spending time in his wood shop, where he fashioned toys, puzzles, games, inlaid boxes, walking canes, furniture, and numerous other items for sale at craft fairs and as cherished gifts for family and friends. Bob was a generous, loving father and friend, a hunter and gatherer of wild foods, a fine cook, a savvy poker player, and a patient teacher to many both in and out of the classroom. This solid man, this kind-hearted, beloved patriarch, is already greatly missed and will be well-remembered as a giving, selfless teacher.

A memorial service is planned for Saturday, October 17 at 2:00 PM at Bethany Lutheran Church, Bainbridge Island, Washington.