James Parland Hale

He is survived by his wife Heidi, daughter Lauren Schroedter (Martin) and 2 grandchildren.

He is survived by siblings, Peter Bumpus (Judi), Michael Hale (Jean), Martha Caissie and Storm O’Keefe. He grew up raising dairy cows on a farm in Granite Falls and spent his entire life in WA. His life was enriched by his many wonderful in-laws, cousins and friends.

He received a BS in Economics from the University of Washington and was a devout Husky fan. He spent the majority of his working life as a piledriver and proud member of the Piledrivers Union. He devoted many hours to volunteering at the Northwest Railway Museum working on the train as fireman and brakeman and was learning to be an train engineer.

He served active duty in the Air Force including a deployment to Vietnam and then transitioned to Army Reserves where he retired after 21 years as a Master Sergeant. He and his wife Heidi, who he met in the Army, were both deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm. He was grateful for all the thanks he received for his service and always wore his military veteran hat with pride.

Despite his gruff appearance, he was a gentle man and was genuinely liked by those around him. While not always outwardly expressive about it, he loved his wife more than anything in the world. After his daughter Lauren was born he enjoyed having her nap snuggled on his chest. As she grew up, he always talked about her with pride, and when she joined the railroad engineering world the two of them would talk about railroad construction. He was always happy to offer his construction knowledge to aid in her endeavors.

He was a meat and potatoes man, tolerating his wife’s healthier cooking. He never met a ribeye steak he didn’t like. To balance out his love of good tasting food he started going to the local gym and there he made many new friends.

He loved tinkering with cars and tractors and loved showing off his restored Case tractor, though John Deere tractors were his favorite (he owned four of them). He was thrilled when his grandchildren liked his Tonka truck collection. They spent many hours moving dirt with Grampa overseeing their efforts.

He was an avid fisherman, but knew he was getting older when fishing in the cold and rain was less appealing. That didn’t stop him from watching fishing shows, picking out new gear to try and planning his next adventures. One of his favorite fishing spots was Jameson Lake. He was a member of the Everett Steelhead and Salmon club and loved volunteering with the club’s Kids Fishing Program. His final hours were spent sharing a good meal and planning spring fishing trips with friends at the club’s annual holiday party.

In lieu of flowers, contributions would be appreciated to:

Everett Steelhead and Salmon Youth Organization

PO Box 303

Lake Stevens, WA 98258