Tim St. Clair, 57, a legend in West Seattle journalism and 20-year West Seattle Herald reporter died Monday night, Feb. 25, a victim of pancreatic cancer.

The outpouring of grief, comment and concern for his family and friends was overwhelming both in scope and depth.

St. Clair had been moved that day from Swedish Hospital to Virginia Mason's Bailey-Boushay House. Tim worked for the Herald and Robinson Newspapers for what would have been 20 years later this year.

"Tim St Clair was the consummate reporter," said Publisher Jerry Robinson. "I called him the Saint or Mr. West Seattle because wherever I went readers often told me, 'We love the Herald at our house and really appreciate your writer Tim St Clair.'

"Tim was a proficient journeyman journalist. Always good natured, quietly going about his trade with steadfast dedication to his profession.

"Everyone on the staff respected this dependable craftsman and he served his chosen community well.

"The Robinson newspaper family held great affection for the Saint and he will most assuredly be missed," said a statement by Jerry and Elsbeth Robinson and for the Robinson family.

Over the next few days scores of people wrote letters on the Herald Web site and well as by e-mail. Most of those letters are reproduced in this Tim St. Clair memorial issue of the West Seattle Herald/White Center News. The letters can be read here:

www.westseattleherald.com/articles/2008/03/03/interact/letters_to_the_editor/letter01.txt

Tim's brother, Jeff, 56, and father, Edwin, 82, who still live, in Tooele, Utah, (pronounced too-WIL-la), a town of about 30,000, located 35 miles southwest of Salt Lake City where Tim was raised. Jeff and Edwin were sorting through Tim's belongings in his cluttered, one-bedroom apartment near The Kenney.

Jeff, 56, owns a cab company in Tooele. His wife, Penny, stayed home with their grandkids and numerous cats and dogs.

"The last time dad and I saw Tim was over Thanksgiving weekend, but not for a (traditional) meal," said Jeff St. Clair. "Basically, he was in the hospital. We didn't know how sick he was. He was aloof and didn't want to share any negative news with us. A friend of his called us and said he was in pretty rough shape, so we came up the day after Thanksgiving."

His father said he served in World War II.

"I was a combat engineer in General Patton's Third Army in France, Belgium and Germany. I retired from the army, then started a home repair business, and kept that up until about a year ago," the elder St. Clair said. "We've run into many strong memories going through Tim's belongings. We're all pack rats, and never through anything away."

Brother Jeff noted, "Tim used to write for Soundings, an East Coast boating magazine. He must have kept every issue in a big box that sadly we through away."

They found about eight boxes of West Seattle Heralds in Tim's apartment.

"We ran into his grade school lunch bucket, 'Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.' The thermos is still in it, and probably still works," said Jeff St. Clair. "I found his baseball mitt he I remember he played with when he was 8-years-old, all folded up with a ball inside, and his Boy Scout uniform with all the badges, all in tact. I was telling Dad I was so proud of Tim. He was a serious Scout. We were in summer camp together when he received a special award, 'the order of the arrow.' One night camp counselors dressed up as Indians dragged Tim and another camper away from our campfire. They gave Tim one egg and a match, and sent him out to spend the night in the woods. He came back right on time, at 7 a.m. the next morning. I was worried he'd get eaten up by a bear. I was so proud of him. They presented him with a nice sash."

Jeff said Tim loved to garden, and pointed out a small strip of land behind his building that he cared for.

"He deserved to have five acres," Jeff said. "This whole area was everything to him. He composted, recycled, and was very environmental. This was his special spot.

"He loved to prune trees. He had all the gear on his vacation in Utah and went around and pruned everybody's trees. He was much more knowledgeable about that than me.

"We were really close," Jeff St. Clair said. "There were bitter battles, you know, I'm the 'little brother.' Our younger brother, Monte, was a lot bigger than me. In our neighborhood our mother wouldn't let me cross Main Street, and all my friends lived passed there, so I'd have to go with Tim. Monty could kick our ass any time!"

Monte died in a car accident in 1990.

Edwin St. Clair said, "Tim felt very strongly about protesting Viet Nam. He used to come home from college at the University of Washington every weekend and we'd argue. Back then I didn't agree with all the protesting. His mother and I would threaten to take him out of that 'radical' school. Over the years I became more liberal. I guess he had more influence on us than we had on him."

Tim attended college during Viet Nam and was not drafted. After graduating, he received a high lottery number and was not called.

Edwin said of Tim's ongoing illness, "I have been dreading this constantly. But now that he is out of pain it's kind of a sense of relief in a way."

After returning to Utah, Tim's family will have another memorial service there, where he has many relatives and friends, including family members of the late U.S. Rep. Wayne Owens, for whom Tim worked. Owens was western state coordinator for both Robert and Edward Kennedy's' presidential campaigns. Tim was his aide and wrote a speech for the congressman during the Watergate hearings that were televised.

Tim also worked for former Utah Gov. Scott Matheson, and continued a close friendship with the governor's sons, Scott, Jr., and Jim. Scott is a former United States attorney in Utah. Jim is a congressman. They plan to attend the memorial.

Brad and Chuck Caldart are Tim's cousins, and live in Seattle.

A close friend of Tim's, Barbara Eller, lives in White Center, and worked with Tim at the West Seattle Herald when the office was on Alaska Street. Eller was a production artist.

"Tim and I have gone on many hiking trips and campouts," Eller says. "We walked around neighborhood looking at gardens, and then would go for drinks and something to eat afterward. He house sat our cats many times, and would leave these great notes that our garden our cats were OK.

"I noticed his TV was broken and I got kind of irritated with him and told him to get rid of that worthless piece of furniture, and that I'd buy him a new one down at Costco. He said, 'It's not all bad. I can still listen to it.' That was two weeks ago," Eller said.

"He always had very reasonable cars, you know, kind of boring cars. When his car broke I told him why don't you get yourself something nice, a reliable car, and he said. 'No. I am tired of reliable cars, I want something sporty.' That was him within the last four weeks," Eller said.

"The world will not be the same without Tim, at least not for me. I'll miss him a lot."

Donna Bevin-Lee lives in West Seattle, and is a psychotherapist.

"Tim and I were born in the same town, Tooele, Utah. Our first picture together was when we were two years old, and at the Tooele reunion at the city pavilion. His dad is holding him. My dad is holding me. They were standing next to each other. We were in Mr. Rupp's and Mrs. Stewart's class in elementary school," said Bevin-Lee. "In high school there were 20 of us in a sort of group. We were the pains-in-the-butt for the school and city, and the kids that everybody wanted to hang out with.

"We graduated in 1968, so we burned a '68' in the high school lawn. We'd sneak out at night, hang out and talk. We just wanted to be with each other all the time. In fact, the weekend before Tim died, eight from our group flew in from Utah and California. He and the guys used to call themselves the Tooele Raiders and made up a special song. All the guys went into the hospital room where he was having a difficult procedure and they all sang. It was very touching, very wonderful.

"Tim and I dated off and on in college. We graduated, and went our own ways. He moved here to be with his mother who moved back to Poulsbo after her divorce. I think he liked the political atmosphere here. It was not (conservative) like Utah.

"I was pregnant, and also came here for political reasons because I lived in Phoenix and Evan Mecham was the governor." (Mecham, who died Feb. 22, faced impeachment, an election recall, and a felony indictment simultaneously.)

"I didn't want my child to grow up in that atmosphere," Bevin-Lee said. "In 1998 Tim and I attended my uncle's funeral back in Tooele and we were shocked that we both lived in Seattle! We became friends again. He got involved in my son, James's life. Tim, James and I were University of Utah sports fans, and our alumni association would have a party up here and rent a sports bar when the University of Utah played Brigham Young (University) and we'd cheer on the Utes.

"Ethics and living consistently within his value system was one of the most important things in his life. He worked at a gas station in Battle Mountain, Nevada, in 1969-70. He made $25. That was huge, but he hated working there and was always in conflict because his boss taught him how to mess with peoples' tires, and manipulate them. He only stayed two months. Recently he said that was one of the things he wished he hadn't participated in. That was one of the things that made him a great journalist.

"His loss leaves a big empty space."

Another close friend of Tim was Matt Durham. Durham is an emergency medical technician and firefighter but was also a freelance photographer at the Herald for many years.

"I've worked for over 30 newspapers through the years, and Tim was above all the most ethical reporter I've ever met.

"There were times when I had a somewhat sensational photo that looked great for Tim's story, and I'd push, push, push," Durham said. "While it was ultimately up to the editor to run it, Tim would explain to me in an articulate way why the photo might not be right, and why we need to be above it all. He was a real professional. I am an open-minded person, and he changed it almost every time.

"He had a nice perspective on politics and the world. I wish that he'd have shared it more with others. The sad thing is that because he was a bit reclusive, he didn't see that need in himself to touch more people.

"He always put others ahead of himself, and cared for them, sometimes at great sacrifice to himself."

Durham said that Tim would offer to help others, and would avoid troubling them if he needed help, even while very ill.

"For a guy who never had kids, he related so well to ours. I was impressed."

Editor's note: Letters and comments are welcome via e-mail at wseditor@robinsonnews.com at our Web site, www.westseattleherald.com, or at 932.0300.