​PURPLE & GOLD CLUB

GAYLE WHITSELL

Gayle Whitsell taught industrial arts at Lake Stevens High School for twenty-nine years, from 1953 to 1982. Students thought so much of Gayle that the yearbook was dedicated to him in four decades, 1959, 1965, 1977, and 1981. Gayle served our school in an extraordinary variety of ways. Besides being a classroom instructor, Gayle served as junior high basketball coach, boys club advisor, sophomore class advisor, senior class advisor, and fire squad advisor. As head coach from 1960 to 1969 his teams won several Cascade League baseball titles. He spent over twenty years teaching traffic safety. From early in his career until long after his retirement, Gayle was the voice of the Vikings at home football and basketball games. Gayle served Lake Stevens as a city council member, and for seven years, its mayor. An active member of Kiwanis, he helped build our library, and was known as "The Golden Voice of Aquafest." Gayle was a co-founder of the Lake Stevens Historical Society, served thirteen years as its president, and in 1985 was voted Lake Stevens Citizen of the Year. In the greater community, Gayle helped form the Snohomish County DUI Task Force, serving as a member for eight years, three as chair. The Gayle Whitsell Award is given annually at the County DUI Awards Ceremony to a person or group which "exemplifies the dedication and community involvement which Gayle's life demonstrated." In 1983 he received the Clifford Boyce Award for outstanding service to the Traffic Safety Education Program; he won again in 1988 for his work with the Snohomish County DUI Task Force. We are proud to honor Gayle Whitsell with induction into the Lake Stevens High School Hall of fame for the honor he has bestowed on all Lake Stevens High School Vikings through his lifetime of achievement and service.