From Sacha, news of a memorial service this Saturday for West Seattle resident Aidan Bigliardi, and his obituary:

Aidan Christopher Bigliardi passed away October 2, 2010 peacefully at home after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was born in Seattle, Washington on January 17, 1955. He spent his childhood on Mercer Island, where his father was the priest of Mercer Island Episcopal Church.

Aidan received his degree in nursing and worked as an RN in the operating room his entire career. He served the patients, surgeons and staff at Highline Medical Center for 30 years.

Aidan loved fishing, hiking, hunting, gardening, reading, the Seattle Times Sunday crossword puzzle and entertaining family and friends at “the trailer” in Eastern Washington.

He was preceded in death by his father Matthew Paul Bigliardi, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Oregon. He is survived by his mother Jeanne Bigliardi, Rachel Bigliardi, his children Nicole White, Mia, Matthewm Lucas and Ali and granddaughter Julie White.

Aidan, you are loved dearly and will forever live in our hearts.

Aidan Bigliardi’s Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 1:00 pm at Hope Lutheran Church (4456 42nd SW). All are welcome to attend.

(If you have an obituary to share, we are glad to publish these types of tributes, free of charge.)

Daryl and Donna e-mailed to ask that we publish news of Helen Finnell‘s passing, explaining, “Helen was a resident of West Seattle from approximately 1948-2003 and volunteered for a number of years at both the West Seattle Senior Center and Food Bank.” Her memorial and burial are set for this Tuesday. Read ahead for the full announcement:Read More

(WSB photo from December 2009)
That’s the family-suggested heading for the obituary that will appear in the Seattle Times this weekend and was shared with us for publication today by Dave Townsend, nephew of Ken Wise, the longtime entrepreneur, Rotarian, and totem-pole sleuth – the only photo in our files is the one above, with Mr. Wise at left, the day he and fellow Rotarian Duane Ruud (right) went out to Lake Sawyer to try to track down the then-missing pole, later recovered, and then reinstalled four days before his death (as Rotary past president Amy Lee Derenthal noted at last night’s rededication). Hours before that sleuthing expedition (which WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand tagged along for, taking the above photo), Mr. Wise had joined in the annual Rotary Shopping Spree at SODO Sears – an event he founded, according to his obituary. His service is one week from tomorrow, as you’ll read, ahead:

Born and raised in West Seattle, Kenny Wise was a local institution:

From leading the West Seattle Rotary Kiddies Parade at Hi-Yu, to being Santa for years at the Rotary Christmas shopping day at Sears for needy children, which he initiated in 1974, and most recently leading the hunt for the stolen Rotary Totem Pole, he was everywhere in West Seattle.

Read More

Thanks to Leslie for sharing this link via Facebook: Our partners at the Seattle Times published an obituary today for 86-year-old Neal Saffer, who ran Quesnel’s Restaurant in West Seattle for more than 20 years. According to the obituary, Mr. Saffer is to be buried at Dignity/Forest Lawn in West Seattle at noon tomorrow, with the burial service there to be followed by a reception at Holy Rosary; he died of heart failure, and is survived by family members including wife Margaret Saffer, with whom he had moved to Port Orchard in 2004. (If you are not a long-long-time West Seattleite – some WSB’ers who are, have discussed Quesnel’s over the years, and remember it as being along Beach Drive.)

Tonight before the High Point Neighborhood Association meets (6 pm, High Point Library), members of its Pedestrian Safety Committee plan a walking tour with City Council President Nick Licata. One of the recent tragedies that concern this group and other West Seattle residents is the accident at 35th/Othello on October 27th that killed longtime area resident and educator/engineer/inventor Oswald Clement. His memorial is now set for next Wednesday (11/14) at St. James Cathedral, according to friend and former student Sharon Stone, who has written an obituary to tell us all more about Mr. Clement and his life, which ended just two days short of his 86th birthday:Read More