Richard K. "Dick" Pryne

During Dick's long journalism career the hometown daily newspaper was one of the few sources of news and information available to most people. That meant Dick played a significant role for decades in presenting the world to Seattle, and Seattle to itself. He often decided what appeared on the front page, and what didn't make the paper at all. Dick took this responsibility seriously, bringing to it an intense curiosity; a commitment to fairness and accuracy; and a belief, rooted in his own strong faith, that knowledge and understanding would help make the world a more just place.

Dick was born Oct. 21, 1918, in Litchfield, Minn., to Ralph and Esther (Angier) Pryne. The family moved to California when he was a toddler, and Dick grew up mostly in Long Beach and Los Angeles. He graduated in 1940 from UCLA, where he served as editor of the student newspaper.

Upon completing a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University in 1941, Dick was awarded one of the school's Pulitzer Travel Fellowships. He used the money to go to South America and spent two years there, mostly in Chile, writing for U.S. newspapers and news services and working for a U.S. government office established to counteract Nazi propaganda.

Dick returned to the states in 1943, paying his way home by washing dishes on a freighter, and enlisted in the Army. He served in the infantry in Italy, and after the war worked in Paris for Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper, for six months.

After he was discharged, Dick applied for jobs at all the major newspapers on the West Coast. The Seattle Times was the first to offer him a position. He became a copy editor at the paper in 1946, then served as wire editor, assistant news editor, night news editor and news editor before retiring in 1983.

Dick met Margaret Olson, a junior-high art teacher, at a picnic at Martha Lake, near Lynnwood, in July 1949. They married seven months later. They enjoyed a nine-month honeymoon in Europe, courtesy of a Reid Fellowship Dick had been awarded to travel and write. He also was awarded a federal Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship to return to Chile for two months in 1971.

Dick and Margaret raised their family in Ballard, where they lived for 30 years. They moved to Port Ludlow in 1988, then to the Emerald Heights retirement community in Redmond in 1997. Dick's family wishes to thank that community's memory-care and skilled-nursing units for the devoted and loving care they provided him during his final years.

Dick's faith was his foundation. He was a member of Woodland Park Presbyterian Church in Seattle for more than 40 years, serving in many leadership positions there and in the Presbytery of Seattle. During his last years he was a member of Redmond Presbyterian Church.

Dick's commitment to making the world a better place was reflected in large and small ways, before and after retirement. In Seattle, he volunteered at his church's soup kitchen. At Port Ludlow, he managed a successful election campaign to raise taxes to improve emergency medical services. At Emerald Heights, he served as president of the Residents' Council and tutored immigrant staff in English.

Dick also was devoted to his family. He worked overtime every week for many years to pay for music lessons and other extras for his children. But his work hours often allowed him to be home by mid-afternoon, to engage in his children's lives in ways many fathers couldn't. In retirement, for many years Dick and Margaret gave their children and grandchildren the gift of a winter week in the sun in Palm Desert, Calif., bringing all three generations together. Nothing gave Dick more pleasure.

Margaret died in 2012. Dick is survived by brother Philip (Shirley) Pryne of Long Beach, Calif.; son Eric (Carla) Pryne of Vashon Island; daughters Susan (Bill) Mahler and Julie Pryne, both of Seattle; grandchildren Jennifer (Matthew) Brummitt of Kirkland, Elisabet (David) Edwards of Newcastle, Kristen Mahler of Seattle, Kai Berkedal of Tigard, OR and Bjorn Berkedal of Guilin, China; and great-grandchildren Isabella and Hadley Edwards and Jackson, Chase, Hudson and Nicholas Brummitt. In 1968-69 Margaret and Dick hosted Heather (Mann) Kiernan, an exchange student from Australia, who became like a third daughter.