Russell Hulet departed this life to be with all that is beautiful on May 8, 2023. He was born in Cosmopolis, Washington on July 13, 1931, grew up in Aberdeen, Washington, and spent his adult life living primarily in the greater Seattle/Tacoma area. He was a father of four, a grandfather of eight, a journalist, teacher and author. He held degrees from the University of Washington and Seattle University.
For the first half of his career, he taught English at Lake Washington and Juanita high schools in Kirkland, Washington and was well-loved as a teacher of literature, though he had a reputation as a tough grader. At Lake Washington, he coached tennis and led his team to a state championship in 1961. His curiosity and excellent memory led him to become an expert in numerous topics. After he was hired as a professor at Pierce College in journalism and humanities, he turned some of these topics into courses for his students. where he was an instructor for 18 years. As a journalist, he won multiple awards from the Suburban Newspapers of America for sports writing, including a national feature writing award in 1971. He served as president of the Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators and as faculty president of Pierce College. After his retirement from full-time teaching in 1989, he continued to teach and wrote regularly, including two books: Born Under A Stump, about the life of his uncle, Bill Hulet, and Out of the Blue, a compendium of feature articles he wrote for General Aviation News.
He had many passions in his private life, among them literature (especially poetry and Shakespeare), geography, sports (especially college football and track and field), movies, music, cribbage, chess, word puzzles, whistling American Songbook tunes, and traveling, both in and outside of the United States to all continents except for Antarctica. All this resulted in many entertaining stories about his exploits, some of which he told more than once.
He served as a quartermaster in the U.S. Army in Korea, immediately following the armistice in 1953. He also had a life-long commitment to help the less fortunate and regularly volunteered at religious and secular organizations providing services to the poor. He was a longtime supporter of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. A donation can be made in his name at: www.stjude.org.
He was congenial, though outspoken at times, such as in support of freedom of speech and information. He loved being a patron of the arts, and regularly attended theater events. He was fond of attending the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, with his family, to whom he was devoted as a father and grandfather. He reveled in their achievements but encouraged humility, and loved boasting about them to others. A friend of Russ’s once confirmed that his kids and grandkids were “the light of his life.” He was, however, fond of giving them obscure advice, such as, “let the first two go and hit to Right.” He had an uncanny knack for remembering the street layouts of small towns he had visited, and seemed to always run into old acquaintances on excursions away from home.
He is survived by his four children, Olivia Salamon, Brian (Skip) Hulet, Andre Hulet and Chantal Hulet; and his sister, Sybil Petrie.
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