Countless passengers have ridden ships of his design without necessarily knowing his name, but Philip Spaulding was a legend in West Coast and international maritime circles.
"I had a fantastic desire to create a good looking ship," Mr. Spaulding told his newspaper in an October 2003 interview.
Mr. Spaulding died at his Magnolia home May 5. He was 92 years old.
Spaulding-designed ships include the Port Angeles-Victoria ferry MV Coho, seven Alaska Marine Highway System ferries and the 440-foot Walla Walla and its sister ship Spokane, workhorses for Washington State Ferries since 1971. Other designs include 14 ferries for BC Ferries in British Columbia, three aluminum high-speed San Francisco Bay ferries, plus numerous tankers, tugs, barges and yachts.
Mr. Spaulding's desire, self-discipline and love of family were hallmarks of his career. William Spaulding, a Bothell resident, recalled his father once telling him: "With five kids, a mortgaged home, a payroll to meet and an understanding wife, you go at it hard.
"He was a man of extremely high ethics and morals," William Spaulding added. "Deals were made with a handshake. He was a man of his word."
His wife Margaret "Peggy" Sheldon Spaulding preceded Mr. Spaulding in death in 1998. The couple met as first graders at Coe School, sparking a romance that would last 78 years.
Mr. Spaulding was born Nov. 27, 1912, on his mother's family homestead in the Snoqualmie Valley. His father and grandfather were shipmasters out of Maine, and that same grandfather fought on a frigate at the Battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War. Mr. Spaulding's father, a fireboat captain, rescued people huddled at the end of a pier during the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
The family eventually built a home on upper Queen Anne at 2220 Queen Anne Ave. N. where The Thai Kitchen does business today.
A 1931 graduate of Queen Anne High School, Mr. Spaulding earned his engineering degree from the University of Washington and a master's degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of Michigan.
After working for Bethlehem Steel in Maryland, Mr. Spaulding returned to Seattle and married Peggy Sheldon in 1940. He worked for Todd Shipyard before founding his own firm, Spaulding & Associates in 1952, starting out in the basement of his Magnolia home with six employees and $400 in the bank.
The firm later moved to 65 Marion St., where it grew to more than 100 employees. In 1971 Spaulding & Associates merged with W.C. Nickum & Sons, which became Nickum & Spaulding Associates.
Mr. Spaulding retired in the mid-1980s.
"Making money was not as important to him as making sure his designs were beautiful," said his daughter Diane Spaulding of Magnolia. "Dad wanted to put something on the water people would enjoy looking at and using."
Diane Spaulding was aware of her father's occasional, perfectionist's temper, but she said it was never directed toward others. One story has Mr. Spaulding kicking a waste can across the room with enviable accuracy. He was also known to sometimes work all night and through weekends while on deadline.
"He was a determined man who knew what was right," Diane Spaulding said.
Mr. Spaulding's old firm is now known as Elliott Bay Design Group. John Waterhouse is its president.
"Phil was a passionate individual about the maritime industry and loved what he did. He was enthusiastic and demanding," Waterhouse said. "He was an artist."
Waterhouse cited the Coho, with its longer, lower, graceful silhouette, as a classic Spaulding design: "It's his poster child. You see her sailing into Victoria harbor and she just looks right."
In 1979 Mr. Spaulding received the David W. Taylor Award from the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, considered the highest award in the field. Other awards came his way as well, including the Maritime Press Association's Puget Sound Maritime Man of the Year in 1973.
Mr. Spaulding was an avid sailor and skier. He was a member of Corinthian Yacht Club, Seattle Yacht Club and one of the founders of the Crystal Mountain ski area. Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding played a key role in the restoration of the Virginia V.
Diane Spaulding noted that when the Virginia V passed by the family home overlooking Elliott Bay, the steamer would whistle in salute. The MV Coho, in town for its yearly maintenance, would do the same, she said.
Survivors, besides his son and daughter, include daughters Susan Zehner of Walla Walla, David Spaulding of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Robert Spaulding of Kennewick. There are five grandchildren and five step-grandchildren.
A celebration of Mr. Spaulding's life will take place Sunday, May 22, 2 to 5 p.m. at the Seattle Yacht Club, 1807 E. Hamlin St.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Virginia V Foundation, 860 Terry Ave. N. Seattle, WA, 98109.[[In-content Ad]]
