Originally
posted 2/14/2018
First
photo credit: Whit Hemion playing Western Washington State College (now Western
Washington University) Vikings basketball during the 1968-1969 season. During
that season, his fourth and final year on the team, he was its captain. Photo
from Western's Klipsun student yearbook. Western is located in Bellingham.
By Tim
Marsh, Lakes High School Class of 1966
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Whit.
Many people reading or hearing “Whit” know it’s a first name
followed by the last name of “Hemion.”
Whit
Hemion.
To be specific Whittaker Moss Hemion Junior, not to be
confused with his father with the same name except Senior at the end.
This is a story about Lakewood’s Whit Hemion Jr., a larger
than life person. Tall (6-foot-2), “studly,” sincere, determined, dedicated, friendly,
likeable, enthusiastic, he was all of that and more.
At Lakes High School, he was an outstanding football and
basketball player for the Lancers and a member of Lakes second graduating class
in 1965.
As a junior, he was a member of the Lakes 1963-1964 boys’
basketball team which upset favored Renton for the Puget Sound League
championship and the Lakes 1964 football team which had an undefeated season.
He went on to play four years of basketball at WWU/Western
Washington University (then Western Washington State College) in Bellingham. Whit lettered all four years he played and
was the WWU Vikings men’s basketball team captain his senior season, 1968-1969.
After Bellingham, he returned to Lakewood and taught history
and p.e. and coached at both Woodbrook Junior High (four school years) and
Clover Park High School (one school year).
Born in Seattle on Dec. 22, 1946, this story should be about
Whit at age 71, looking back at his long life of sports and service.
Tragically, Whit’s life was too short. He died at age 31 in a plane crash on
Aug. 18, 1978.
The Hemion family…
--Patriarch
Whitaker Moss Hemion Sr., born in Iowa, died at age 99 in 2017 in Lakewood.
--Matriarch
Shirley A. Stocker Hemion, born in Illinois, died at age 92 in 2016 in Lakewood.
…and their
children …
--Whit Jr.,
Lakes Class of 1965, WWU Class of 1970. Also earned a teaching certificate from
WWU.
--Dave, Lakes
Class of 1966, attended Peninsula College in Port Angeles and WWU, died of a
heart attack at age 62 in 2010.
--Jack, Lakes
Class of 1968.
--Kathy, Lakes
Class of 1970, WWU 1974 and master’s degree 1982.
… deserves
a book. If a book is written, let this story be part of it.
In 2017, Whit Sr. and Shirley were honored with a Meritorious
Service Award from the Tacoma-Pierce County Old-Timers Baseball-Softball Assn. Text
for that award reads:
“Think of a couple with a passion for competition --- be it
golf, bowling, tennis or bridge. Add four children who grew into multi-sport
athletes with boundless appetites for achievement. Stir in a large helping of hospitality,
a yearning to bond with others involved in games regardless of allegiance, and
leaven with a tincture of even-handed temperament, and what you have is Whit
and Shirley Hemion.
“Through decades of following their children to literally
hundreds of competitions in all parts of the country they earned reputations as
supportive fixtures in the athletic community. For their efforts they have
earned” the award.
“Both came from hearty Midwest stock and lived into their
90s. Shirley was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, while Whit was a native of Algona,
Iowa. Both spent some of their early years on Mercer Island. They married and
started their family shortly after the end of World War II, and they moved to
Lakewood in 1961.
“That’s where their children, Whit, Dave, Jack and Kathy,
excelled in high school sports and moved on to other levels of competition.
“Mom and Dad were behind them at every step, always offering
encouragement. On the sidelines they could be forceful advocates for their children,
though officials never had to ask them to leave. After games, they played host
to “tailgate” parties where both teams were welcome. Whit always brought a
cooler of beer, and he also had a travel case with contents to help boost the
spirits of guests.
“Newcomers were warned that Whit’s mixtures could be a bit
stiff.
“From innumerable trips up and down the I-5 corridor, to
cross-country trips to such places as Marietta, Georgia; Pensacola, Florida;
Austin, Minnesota, and back to their native Heartland in Springfield, Illinois,
the Hemions were a ubiquitous and welcome presence at their children’s
competitions.”
……………………………
Whit Jr.’s biography as a member of the association’s hall
of fame says:
“Whit Hemion Sr. and wife Shirley enjoyed a long
relationship with slowpitch, watching sons Whit Jr., Jack, and David and
daughter Kathy all play on top local ball clubs over the years.
“Whit Jr. played for the Tacoma Merchants, Dean’s Tavern, Hi
Hat and the Outfitters in the 1970s. Among the top honors he received was the
MVP Award at the Third Annual Jerry Bassett Invitational in 1978. That same
year, a tragic airplane crash en route to the regional championships in Montana
took the life of Whit Jr. one of the Pacific Northwest’s most-feared long-ball
softball players of his era.”
(The crash took the lives of Whit, four softball team teammates
and the plane’s pilot.)
……………………………
Although the crash happened nearly 40 years ago, it is still
a “painful memory for me as Whit and I were very close friends,” said Doug
Cowan, formerly of Lakewood, who now lives in Port Orchard.
Doug began his teaching/coaching career at Woodbrook a year
after Whit started doing the same in 1973.
Whit was a world and U.S. history teacher, head boys’
basketball coach (two league titles) and 8th grade football and
girls’ track & field assistant coach.
“When I started at Woodbrook, Whit and I had classrooms next
to each other and we coached the 8th grade football team together for three
years. We became very close friends in the process. Whit left Woodbrook for
Clover Park High as the new boys’ head basketball coach and history and p.e. teacher
for 1977-1978. In the same school year I was Clover Park’s assistant wrestling
coach,” said Doug.
“Though Whit and I didn't see each other on a daily basis
except for the high school winter sports season that year, the strong bonds of
friendship continued. As part of that, to my surprise, Whit told me ‘you're the only one I
can confide in.’ Though honored as his friend, I found that surprising with his
close family ties.”
That friendship was reflected in the fact Whit was a
groomsman at the November 1977 wedding
of Doug and his wife, Gail.
“Whit and I both played for local softball teams that competed
at the national championship level. He would support my team and I supported
his,” Doug said. “One of Whit’s slowpitch quotes was ‘Forget the grass cutters.
Let's rattle some light poles!’ He did the latter with regularity. Whit was a
pure athlete who could compete and perform with excellence at every sport he
pursued.”
Doug and friend and life insurance agent Levi Edgecombe
played in a slowpitch softball game in Spanaway for the People’s Church of
Tacoma team on Thursday, Aug. 17, 1978. Watching the game were Whit; his
girlfriend, Pat; and Gail, Doug’s wife.
“After the game we all went to dinner at Angelo’s Italian
Restaurant in Spanaway and Whit jokingly told Levi, ‘he had made a lot of money
insuring the two of us and it would be appropriate for him to take us all to
dinner and pay for it’ Doug said. “That's exactly what happened. Levi covered
the entire bill.”
Over dinner they talked about leaving for post-season
slowpitch play. Whit's team, Tacoma Slow Pitch Incorporated, was off to Butte,
Montana, for regional play and Doug’s team to Oklahoma City for the National
Championships.
Also over dinner it was decided Whit would meet up with Doug
and Gail early the next morning (Friday, Aug. 18, 1978) at Tacoma’s Meadow Park
Golf Course for a Whit-led golf lesson before Whit started the long drive from
the Tacoma area to Butte.
But late that Thursday night, Aug. 17, Whit called to tell
the Cowans he had to “cancel the golf date as he and several teammates had
chartered a twin-engine plane to fly to Butte Friday. It would take the plane
just two hours or so to fly from the Puget Sound area to Butte compared to
about 10 hours to drive in a car.
Doug can’t remember exactly when – perhaps the morning of
Saturday, Aug. 19 --- Whit’s
dad called Doug with heartbreaking news. “Inconsolably his dad told me about the
plane crash in the hills near Anaconda, Montana,” Doug said. “It was the first
I’d heard of the crash and I still hurt to recall it and its aftermath.”
“Through the tears Whit’s dad asked if I could arrange a
memorial for Whit in Tacoma at People’s Church, which Gail and I attended,”
said Doug.
Doug and Gail met with the Hemion family and Owen Shackett,
the church’s lead pastor, to plan the memorial service which was held sometime
early the following week.
In the service the pastor introduced Doug to talk about Whit
“the man.” In his talk Doug spoke through “uncontrollable emotion.” He
concluded by reading a poem, “What is A Friend.” (The poem appears later in
this story.)
More than 1,000 people packed the church during the service.
A piece of irony was shared by Pastor Shackett. Whit once told the pastor, ‘Don't
be surprised when I come through the doors of this church one day,’ ” said
Doug.
There was another memorial service at Trinity Lutheran
Church in Parkland. During it Whit and the other softball players killed in the
crash were eulogized. Delivering the eulogy was Jerry Henderson, their softball
teammate. He talked about the five teammates “in terms of life,” reported the Tacoma News Tribune. “We played hard and
laughed together. We loved to get together for a few beers. We were men, but
still boys … Brothers until the end and beyond.”
Mark Sivara, Whit’s top player on the Clover Park 1977-1978
boys’ basketball teams told the News
Tribune that he and other players on the team respected Whit as a coach because
“he treated you like a person, and not just a player. He gave me confidence ..
he was a really good guy.”
Cheri (Deyton) Arkel and her husband, Mike Arkel, of Lakewood
were long-time Woodbrook teachers. Whit was a “wonderful man,” she said. “He
was truly bigger than life ... he filled any room with positive energy. He was
a terrific history teacher. Mike and I have nothing but fond memories of him.”
……………………………
The year after Whit died, Doug helped start an annual
end-of-the-year award deserving Woodbrook Junior High (now a middle school) students
who exemplified the outstanding qualities Whit demonstrated on a daily basis.
Doug Cowan wrote the text for The Whit Hemion Award:
The award was given to the outstanding boy
and girl Woodbrook Junior High 9th grade student-athletes demonstrating
exemplary athletic ability, scholarship, and citizenship. (As a middle school
it goes to 8th grade student-athletes.)
Its genesis was the “What is A Friend,” a poem
he read for the first time at Whit’s memorial service.
(Author of the poem might be Dr. Frank M.
Crane. However, its authorship has been debated over the years. While attending
the UW, Doug read the poem for a first time in an old book in a bookstore. “The
poem perfectly describes that coveted relationship and emotions experienced
between friends,” said Doug.)
Here is
the Whit Hemion Memorial text from the 1978-79 Woodbrook Yearbook
By Doug
Cowan (fellow teacher, coach, and friend)
There will always be many good memories engraved upon the
hearts and minds of those who had the privilege of knowing Whit Hemion. For
those who loved and admired him, Whit was the personification of three lofty
qualities essential in a true teacher: Achievement, Leadership, and a Servant’s
Heart. He loved helping people attain their goals, and for himself always
strove to be the best, anything less being unacceptable.
He had the ability to see the consequences of our actions
further in the future than those around us could. He was a true leader. Many,
many times he would become overjoyed about making someone successful, granting
that person a most valuable gift, high self-esteem. Indeed, he had a true
servant’s heart.
The above qualities are admirable without question, but for
me and many others Whit was more. He was a friend. What is a friend? The
following anonymous poem will aptly describe this cherished possession.
WHAT IS A
FRIEND?
It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself.
Your soul can be naked with him.
He seeks to ask of you to put on nothing, only to be what
you are.
He does not want you to be better or worse.
When you are with him you feel as a prisoner feels who has
just been declared innocent.
You do not have to be on your guard.
You can say what you think so long as it is genuinely you.
He understands those contradictions in your nature that lead
others to midjudge you.
With him you breathe freely.
You can follow your little vanities and envies, and hates
and vicious spurts, your meanness and absurdities and, in opening them up to him,
they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of his loyalty.
He understands.
You do not have to be careful.
You can abuse him, neglect him, tolerate him.
Best of all, you can keep still with him.
It makes no matter, he likes you.
He’s like a fire that purges to the bone.
He understands.
He understands.
You can weep with him, pray with him.
Through it all and underneath he sees, knows, and loves you.
A friend?
What is a friend?
Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself.
Doug said he “began a personal tradition that concluded
every semester from 1978 to my retirement in 2011 with a variety of poems I
read as a farewell to my students. As a tribute to Whit, I always concluded
with imparting the value of true friendships and how quickly they can slip away
with the poem ‘What is A Friend?’ ”
……………………………
A tribute page in the 1979 Clover Park High School Klahowya student yearbook said Whit was a “man with numerous well-rounded
qualities.
“A servant at heart, he became excited about making someone
successful, valuing punctuality, he showed high esteem for others and their
time; he practiced achievement, helped one discover one’s needs then helped
find the best way to get them; he reached the goal of leadership, seeing the consequences
of people’s actions further in the future that those around him could. He had a
lifestyle admitted and desired by many.”
The tribute said, “Sports played an extremely significant
role in Whit Hemion’s life. He excelled in every aspect of athletics he was an outstanding
participate and also an excellent coach.”
The tribute said, “Whit Hemion was a person with whom one
dared to be one’s self.”
Whit Hemion Jr.is gone, but not forgotten.
POSTSCRIPTS
--Whit never married and had no children.
--Whit, Dave and Jack all played boys basketball at Lakes.
Kathy didn’t play girls’ basketball at Lakes because, as a 1970 Lakes grad, she
attended Lakes before it had girls’ basketball. The 1972 federal Title IX
expanded athletic opportunities to include girls. Whit, Dave and Kathy all
played basketball at WWU.
-- In August-September 1968, brothers Whit and Dave Hemion
played on a 10-member Western Washington University men’s basketball team,
coached by WWU’s Chuck Randall. The team won 15 of 21 games in Asia and
Australia playing under auspices of the U.S. Department of State’s
People-to-People program.
--Whit’s 1972-1975 Woodbrook boys basketball team was the
school’s first undefeated team. It its 12 victories versus no losses season it
averaged 65 points a game. In one of those games it set a school game scoring
record with 90 points over its opponent’s 42. In another game it won 84-48. The
1975 Woodbrook Wildcats yearbook said, “Not only did this remarkable team prove
to be great basketball players but they also had the quality of superior
sportsmanship. Woodbrook has also been very fortunate to have such a super
coach, Mr. Hemion, on the side of the Wildcats.”
= In 1966-1967 Peninsula College (Port Angeles, Wash.,)
Pirates men’s basketball team photo are two 1966 grads of Lakes High School.
Back row, third from the left, Dave Hemion. Front row, second from the left,
Bill Weinman. Dave’s write-up reads, “Dave is the kind of guy that makes a
kangaroo look like a lead-footed mouse, as he can stuff the bail from his 6
foot 1 frame. He can be the spark plug in this year’s hopes for Peninsular.
He’s tough on defense, can rebound with the best this league has, and when he’s
hoot, can really carry the team. Dave comes from Lakes, Tacoma where he played
forward and guard. He didn’t limit his efforts to basketball, but can boast of
holding the school high-jump record at 6 foot 3 inches. Dave has a good
attitude toward the game and works hard to improve himself. As a physical
education major, Dave hopes to come back to Peninsula next year.” Bill
Weinman’s write-up reads, "A 6-5 performer from Lakes in Tacoma. Bill
could be a leading rebounder. His defense needs work and he must adjust to the
move of his mates. He's pretty fast for his size." In the 1966-1976
season, Dave was a starter for Peninsula and Bill started some of the games
that season. Thus, at times two Lakes Lancers, both members of its Class of
1966, were in the Peninsula College Pirates men’s basketball starting lineup. A
sports column in a January 1968 edition of the Port Angeles Evening News said, "At 6-2 Dave is sometimes
overwhelmed by the bigger boys in the conference, but he has the knack of
knowing where the ball is coming down and he is strong enough to muscle the
ball back up when he gets a rebound."
=A 2016 story about Western Washington University women’s
basketball features and quotes Kathy Hemion, a 1974 WWU grad. She was a
5-foot-9 forward on the university’s women’s basketball team and “perhaps
Western's best athlete of that period.” Playing in the 1972-1973 season, the
team had a 24-2 record, losing only to eventual Canadian collegiate national
champ University of British Columbia and to eventual U.S. collegiate nat’l
titlist Immaculata of Pennsylvania. A member of the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame,
she played basketball, volleyball and tennis for WWU and led its basketball
teams to regional titles and national tournament appearances in 1973 and 1974.
She set WWU basketball records for most rebounds in game and season.
=Now retired, Kathy Hemion was a special education teacher
for Tacoma Public Schools for nearly 30 years and for 10 years taught and
coached basketball and volleyball at Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland.
=A member of the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame,
Kathy Hemion is honored her for softball, basketball and volleyball. One of her
accomplishments was trying out for a spot on the U.S. women’s basketball Pan
American Games team.
--Photos here from yearbooks Lakes High School Legend, Clover Park High Klahowya, Western Washington University Klipsun, and Woodbrook Junior High
School Wildcats, and Doug and Gail
Cowan.
--Special thanks to Doug Cowan, Cheri (Deyton) Arkel and
Mike Arkel, Marc Blau of Tacoma-Pierce County Baseball-Softball Oldtimers Assn.,
Ilona Perry of Tacoma Public Library, Paul Madison of WWU and Tim Williams and
Amy McClain of Peninsula College Library.
--Sources include Tacoma
News Tribune, Seattle Times, Port Angeles Evening News, The Montana Standard
(Butte) and Anaconda Standard, Des
Moines, Iowa, Register and Tribune (cartoon advertisement about Whit Hemion
Sr.).
--This story lacks info on Jack. If you are Jack or have
Jack info to add please e-mail this story’s author, Tim Marsh, Lakes High
School Class of 1966, at wildcatville@gmail.com.
Please also make contact if you have corrections. In either case, the story will be
updated.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Photo below includes Whit Hemion
Jr. (front row, far left) in Seattle Times Oct. 26, 1958, page 39, with headline
"Lambro Wins Ossie (football contest) Title, Bowl Trips." During the
The Times-Park Board Greater Seattle Old Ossie championship at Lower Woodland
Park Playfield, Whit Hemion of Island Park Elementary School (of Mercer Island) placed sixth with
40 points.
..................................
Lakes High boys' basketball 1963-1964.
Whit Hemion #41
Whit Hemion #41
RESPONSE TO STORY/STORIES POSTED
ABOUT WHIT HEMION
Date: Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 1:32 PM
Dear Sirs:
Mr. Hemion was my basketball coach at Woodbrook Junior High in 1972-73.
He was a great coach. I played football, basketball and baseball at
Woodbrook and went on to play the same sports at Charles Wright Academy.
I was invited to walk on Northwestern University’s football team as a freshman
in 1976 where I played backup QB and wide receiver on their JV squad. I
quit football to concentrate on my academic career, but many years later had
the opportunity to coach my 3 sons - football, basketball and baseball - when
they were growing up. All 3 of our sons have gone onto play competitively
in college (baseball) - 2 at the Division 1 level (University of Illinois at
Chicago and Sienna College). Our youngest son plays for Oakton College (Junior
college) which played in the Junior College Division III world series this past
Spring.
I learned a LOT from Coach Hemion that 1 year at Woodbrook. Thank you for
writing this excellent article!
Do you know the day Coach Hemion was born?
Sincerely,
Fred Smart
Evanston IL
fred.k.smart@gmail.com
