Marlow Strand

Marlow left home right after high school & spent the next 45 years in the Foreign Service; first in the Army & then eventually retiring from the US State Department. Marlow was the greatest of story tellers recounting his colorful adventures & travels throughout the Middle East & Asia. Marlow served during the Korean War & Vietnam but never fired a shot in anger except to keep indigenous personnel from stealing the NCO Club's weekly shipment of beer.

Born in Wahpeton, North Dakota during the Great Depression & the Dust Bowl, Marlow & his older sister Marge started working at a young age to help support the family. Marlow & Marge were inseparable & sold candy bars, worked their grandfather's farm & set pins at the local bowling alley for an evening meal. The family migrated west in search of work, first stopping in Lewiston, Idaho & eventually making it to Seattle where industry for the war effort had been gearing up. Many of the family worked on the B-17 Flying Fortress assembly line at Boeing.

In 1948, Marlow graduated from Roosevelt High School & donned Army green for a career that would span nearly 3-decades in military intelligence in such exotic locations as Inchon, Saigon & Beirut. Well Beirut wasn't all that bad, after all that's where his two sons John & Kevin were born.

In 1975, Marlow hung up his Sargent Major stripes for a civilian career of 17 years with the US State Department. This time things would be more peaceful, unless you count the time when Marlow had to work under his desk while forces loyal to Manuel Noriega mortared & sniped the embassy during Operation Just Cause in December 1989.

In 1992, Marlow retired from government service, bought a home & moved back to Seattle. Or so we thought. Before you knew it, this 70 year-old wasn't about to settle down & was out pounding the pavement for the 2000 US Census for the Western Washington region. His charm & good looks were enough to drop the guards of most of the stubborn & his group touted a 95% count rate of assignments given. Marlow went on to survey under privileged homes in Seattle to offer their kids an opportunity to attend college through various programs. He called bingo at the Eagles in Ballard, cut rugs with the ladies well into his late 70's & frequented his favorite watering holes at Barnof's & Sundowners in Greenwood.

Marlow's heart & home were always open to the weary traveler passing through Seattle or someone who just wanted to stop by for a beer & shoot the breeze awhile. No one was turned away, even the Jehovah Witnesses & Mormon Mission kids were invited in for spirited debates on religion & politics. Marlow lived his life to the fullest & stuck around to enjoy his last birthday party weekend with family & friends, April 16 & 17.

Marlow was preceded in death by his mother Pearl Peterson & his older sister Marge Jacobson. He is survived by his wife of 48 years Rosita; his two sons John & Kevin; his daughter-in-law Elizabeth & her children Amelia & Austin along with a slew of cousins, extended family & friends around the world.

Please share your fond memories of Marlow with his family and friends by clicking on the guestbook link to the right.