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," he told this newspaper in an October 2003 interview.
Philip 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, work-horses 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.
Spaulding's desire, self-discipline and love of family were hallmarks of his career. William Spaulding, a Both-ell 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 him in death in 1998. The couple met as first-graders at Coe School, sparking a romance that would last 78 years.
Philip 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. Philip's father, a fireboat captain, rescued people hud-dled at the end of a pier during the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
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 Phil Spaulding's life will take place Sunday, May 22, from 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.
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