Washington - Bruce Hume Blakey died on January 23, 2022 with his family by his side in Seattle, Wa. His devotion to his family, extraordinary generosity, tireless determination and innovative spirit will forever be remembered by his loved ones and friends. Bruce was born on August 26, 1932 in Fargo, North Dakota to Stanley and Annabelle Blakey, one of 12 children. In 1944 the family packed up and moved to Seattle. That first summer he was asked by a neighbor to help his son take a fishing boat to Alaska. Bruce had no experience, and the son was a boozing captain on a battered old boat. It became clear as the two of them made their way north the captain was in no shape to navigate. Armed with nothing but dauntless determination Bruce took over the helm and maneuvered the fishing boat through rough seas and narrow channels, dragging the captain out of bars and taverns at stops along the way until they arrived safely in Alaska. He was 12 years old. His "I can do anything" attitude was the cornerstone of Bruce's character and led to his many accomplishments.

Bruce married his first wife Birdine Zabel in 1953. They moved to San Louis Obispo where he was stationed during the Korean War and they started their family with the birth of their daughter Diane in December 1953. Within a year, after concluding his military service, they moved back to Seattle and Bruce began working at Boeing as the youngest purchasing supervisor ever hired. Their son Greg was born in 1955, followed by three more daughters, Glenda in 1957, Tammy in 1959 and Leslie in 1961. When his eldest daughter Diane was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1963, heart broken, Bruce became determined to fill her life and his other children's lives with great experiences. Bruce took his young family camping all over the Pacific Northwest, boating in the San Juans, fishing for salmon, downhill skiing and even taught his kids how to pan for gold.

Bruce moved on from Boeing to work for Honeywell, where he trail-blazed projects with ingenious innovations. Honeywell then asked him to work on a tube based sonar project and Bruce tinkered instead with a solid state, tubeless sonar. He spent months developing the idea with a laser focus. When he presented the concept to his superiors, they dismissed it and told him to "quit wasting time." Never one to give up, he flew to Minneapolis to present it to Honeywell's CEO, but he also was not interested. Bruce saw potential, so he quit Honeywell and with two engineers, Ken Sublett and Jesse Brinkerhoff, to invent the first solid state tubeless sonar. In 1965 he started the company Western Marine Electronics (Wesmar) to market the sonar. The new sonar concept changed commercial fishing forever, and the founding of Wesmar was one of his greatest lifetime achievements. The company is an amazing story of technology and progressive innovation as Wesmar went on to become a world leader in acoustical sonar design. In 1968 Wesmar received the President's E Award for Export Excellence for its successful exporting to global markets.

After his daughter Diane's death in 1973, Bruce and Birdine divorced. In 1983 he married his soulmate Cheryl, who was the ballast and partner in the wake of his creative genius. Over the years, as Cheryl worked tirelessly beside him, the company expanded and went on to develop industrial level monitors, ultrasound for veterinary medicine, and military contracts for underwater mine search and recovery. Bruce also designed gyro- powered roll fin boat stabilizers, bow thrusters, and the first color radar.

In 1983 while continuing to steer and manage Wesmar, Bruce started a new company: Snopac Products. He bought a mothballed military ship and converted it to process salmon in Bristol Bay at a time when floating processors were rare in the predominantly land-based salmon operations. Once again, he spearheaded a shift in an industry resistant to change. Other companies quickly followed suit, adding floating processing ships to their business plan.

Bruce Blakey was a man of ideas and a multitude of interests. In 1993 he bought a 260,000 acre ranch from a German princess in the Chilcotin Valley in British Columbia, Canada. He'd never ranched before, but he tackled the project with gusto improving Alexis Creek Ranch by clearing the fields, installing pivots and building cattle enclosures. Much of this was with the help of his children and grandchildren. Great memories were made working together as a family, often times horse back riding into the back country, branding cattle and operating heavy machinery. Alexis Creek eventually supported over 4,000 head of cattle.

It wasn't all work in Bruce's life, he learned to scuba dive, fly an airplane and helicopter ski. He travelled the world learning about other cultures and he read constantly, history being his favorite subject.

Bruce left a remarkable legacy. He believed he could do the impossible, and he often did. Father, pilot, fisherman, skier, engineer, inventor, rancher, entrepreneur, were only a few of the many roles he tackled and accomplished. He changed lives with his vision and generosity.

Bruce was preceded in death by his ex-wife Birdine, daughter Diane, his son Greg, and grandson Brian Hanrahan. He is survived by his loving wife Cheryl, daughters Glenda, Tammy, and Leslie, daughter in law Nancy, sisters Margie, Nancy and Karen, 10 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. A service honoring Bruce will be held February 12, 2022 at Abbey View Memorial (3601 Alaska Rd, Brier, WA) at 10:00 am. A Celebration of Life will follow at McMenamins Anderson School (1807 Bothell Way NE, Bothell, WA). Flowers can be sent to Abbey View Memorial. Or in lieu of flowers please consider donating to Fred Hutch https:// www.fredhutch.org/en/ways-to-give/honor-a-loved-one.html