OFCO Member and Donor Remembered

OFCO joins countless of other friends in mourning the death of Hellmut Golde, on April 17, after a brief illness.

Husband of OFCO board member Marcy Golde, Hellmut too was an effective and devoted environmental activist through his generous support of organizations such as ours.

For many years, beginning in the mid ’90s, Hellmut served on the board of directors of the Northwest Fund for the Environment, with a three-year stint as board president. The Fund is a vital source for groups working to protect aquatic resources and natural forest ecosystems. Hellmut was a staunch advocate for funding grassroots advocacy work across the state and that legacy continues to the present. He also helped significantly with the Fund’s transition from typewriters and carbon paper to 21st-century technology.

Hellmut was born in Berlin, Germany, on February 6, 1930, and came to the U.S. in 1952 as one of the first German Fulbright Scholars at Stanford University. After receiving his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, he and Marcy moved to Seattle, where he joined the faculty at the University of Washington in that field. He later helped found the University’s Computer Science and Engineering Department.

Hellmut will be remembered by friends for his wit and humor; love of travel, languages and learning; and a strong moral compass and commitment to social justice.

Hellmut and Marcy readily shared their Seattle home with others for special events to benefit the environmental community. Hellmut also loved spending time at the family cabin on the Olympic Peninsula, and many OFCO friends have enjoyed visiting there.

A celebration of Hellmut’s life will be held on Sunday, June 2, at 2 PM at the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, 3800 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle.(Map)

Remembrances, in lieu of flowers, may be made to the Golde Scholarship in Computer Science at the University of Washington, at the following address:

Check payable to Golde Scholarship in Computer Science

University of Washington
Paul G. Allen Center Box 352350
Attn: Joel Cohn
185 E Stevens Way NE
Seattle WA 98195-2350

or the Golde Family Scholarship Fund at Heritage University at the following address:

Check payable to Golde Family Scholarship Fund

Heritage University
Attn: Advancement Office
3240 Fort Rd
Toppenish WA 98948-9562

Thank you.

Connie Gallant
President