Glen S. Player, MD
89, died 28 September 2007 at his home in Medina, WA surrounded by
family. Born 15 Sept 1918 to Shirley & Myrtle (Weiser) Player in
Salt Lake City, Utah, Glen was a great-grandson of original Mormon
pioneer settlers of the valley. He moved with his family to Seattle on
Queen Anne Hill at eight years of age. As a youth he remembers sailing
across Lake Washington to the Kirkland area where there were only one or
two small homes. Hiking up Coal Creek in the 1920s didn't involve a
multi-lane parkway, and in those days camping at Lake Samamish was
considered wilderness backpacking.
A proud graduate of West Queen
Anne Elementary class of 1932 and Queen Anne High School 1936; Glen
organized and supported class reunions for over 70 years. Following
undergraduate studies at University of Washington (1936-1940) Glen
received his medical degree in 1943 from the University of Oregon
Medical School, now called the Oregon Health Sciences University. He
completed post-graduate studies with the School of Neuropsychiatry at
New York University 1944-1945 and took related classes at Cornell.
During World War II, Glen served in the US Army as a neurology
consultant, England General Hospital 1945-1946; and Halloran General
Hospital 1946.
At the close of the war, Glen returned to Seattle
and set up his office at 1623 Queen Anne Ave North as a General
Practitioner and Surgeon. He was a member of the King County Medical
Society, and was a past national civil defense chair for the American
Medical Association. When Glen retired he had served as a physician for
50 years, caring for the grandchildren of some of his original patients.
As
early as the 1950s, Glen showed a keen interest in genealogy. He left a
written personal history and recollections of his parents and
grandparents, so his posterity would know about their roots. His life
spanned a time of great technological advances which he embraced. He
participated in the computerized indexing of Ellis Island passenger
arrival records.
Glen talked of visits in his youth to his
grandmother’s home in Twin Falls, Idaho, when it was necessary to hand
crank the car’s windshield wipers on a rainy day, and water from puddles
would stream up through the floor boards drenching the car’s
inhabitants during the journey. He said they thought nothing of sleeping
together on bare wood floors, all for the adventure of being on Grandma
Eliza’s farm.
His extensive workshop included welding and
woodworking tools that he used to create interesting and useful items
for his home and office. He could fix anything. Next to the tea house,
he designed and installed a pool enclosure with a retractable roof,
extending the use of the pool into the cooler months of the year.
Closest
to Glen's heart was his love of family and he jumped at the chance for
any type of get-together. He finally shared his secret recipe for
barbecued Salmon. As we think about our loving father, we remember him
as a firm task-master and a devoted mentor. He was a hunter,
water-skier, boater and inventor. Our family trips to Orcas Island are
legendary, so it was a particularly choice experience to have him with
us one last time this past summer eating at Bilbo’s and readying for
float-boating on Cascade Lake. Glen played the organ masterfully, and
encouraged the study of musical instruments in his grandchildren. He
would take that huge organ over to the cultural hall at church on a
little trailer he rigged up, so he could play for dinner dances and
other activities.
Glen was preceded in death by his dear wife the
former Blanche Myrtle Jackson. Together they shared a full life of
family, church and civic activities. They sang in the Leonard Moore
chorale and dedicated nearly 40 years to the choir at the Bellevue 1st
Ward of the LDS Church. Glen & Blanche actively supported the
Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra, serving in the BPO League in various
capacities. Blanche died on Christmas Day 2006, just a few months shy of
their 44th wedding anniversary.
Glen & Blanche combined
children from their previous marriages including Mary Clements, Dave
(Lilette) Player, Pat Richley, Mike (Becky) Player, Sharon (Steve)
Wagner, Daniel (Catherine) Bennett, and James (Nancy) Bennett. Their
family has grown to include 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Glen is also survived by his sister Beverly Muir and brother Jack
(Laura) Player.
The family wishes to thank friends, caregivers,
physicians & Providence Hospice for thoughtful assistance during the
past few years of their parents’ illnesses. A joint memorial service
honoring Glen and Blanche will be held at 11 am on Saturday, 13 Oct 2007
at the LDS Church 10675 NE 20th St, Bellevue, WA. In lieu of flowers,
the family requests donations to charity.
Note this blog post was published at http://www.dearmyrtle.com/07/DadnBlancheSMALLER.jpg October 1, 2007, used with permission.