Alan Scott Carman

Alan Scott Carman(September 13, 1948 - September 15, 2013)

Alan Scott Carman passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, September 15.

He was born in Port Townsend to Gerald "Lyle" Carman, a well-known milkman for Glendale Dairy and Darigold, and Clara Carman, a beloved and renowned day-care operator that the state of Washington based much of its licensing diagnostic on upon her retirement.

His childhood was quintessential 1950s American idyllic, complete with bike rides around Uptown Port Townsend; the neighborhood gathering in the family's living room to watch "Friday Night Fights" on the new invention, television; and Boy Scout hikes into nearby Olympic National Park, including trips up the Whiskey Creek Trail with fond memories of overnight stays at Lillian Shelter and other excursions up the Big Quilcene River.

Alan also enjoyed camping trips along the Duckabush River, salmon fishing outings on Port Townsend Bay with his parents, sailing outings with friends and pheasant-hunting trips to Eastern Washington.

During his freshman year, he served as narrator for a Port Townsend High School band performance of "Peter and the Wolf" at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962.

Alan graduated from PTHS in 1966 and was voted Most Musical in Band his senior year for his exploits on the tuba, sousaphone, coronet and timpani drums, and was also active in debate, DeMolay, football and golf.

He married Karen Colton on June 25, 1967, and divorced in 2000.

Alan was proud to have worked as an apprentice rigger at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard during the Vietnam War.

He later moved to Everett, Washington, where he worked at Boeing as a draftsman and later as an expeditor for the Boeing parts department, where he had the pleasure of riding in many of the first rollouts of the then-brand-new 747 model.

Eventually, he moved back to Port Townsend in 1971 to work at the Crown Zellerbach paper mill.

His first child, Kristin Carman, was born on December 15, 1971.

Alan worked for the Jefferson County Engineering Department from 1972 to 1977, helping with construction of many of the bridges over the Hoh River on the West End of Jefferson County.

After taking a survey course through Seattle Central Community College, he was employed by McClarnesbury Surveying on Bainbridge Island from 1977 to 1981.

His second child, Michael Carman, was born on June 9, 1982.

He passed the state land surveyors exam in 1983 and formed Taas Survey & Associates with Ted Thornton of Sequim that year, operating the Port Townsend branch out of his home and then an office on Lawrence Street for much of the 1980s.

Alan was a member of the Land Surveyors' Association of Washington for much of his life, including serving as president of the organization's regional chapter in 1987.

In 1988, he joined David Evans & Associates in Silverdale, Washington, as chief of survey and worked there until the branch office closed in 1993.

He then worked as a surveyor for a variety of firms, most often with Wood Surveying of Port Townsend.

Seeking a change, he joined AmeriCorps, the domestic community service equivalent of the Peace Corps, in 2000 as a tutor/mentor for Sequim Alternative School.

He then worked as teen director for the Sequim Unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula after wrapping his AmeriCorps service hours well in advance of the organization's deadline.

In the fall of 2002, he served as an AmeriCorps VISTA, tasked with helping alleviate poverty.

Partnering with Clallam County Housing Authority's Melinda Szatlocky, Alan used his land-development skills on the Maloney Heights Self-Help Housing Development near William R. Fairchild International Airport in Port Angeles.

Alan was a native son and knew the lands of Jefferson County and most of the Olympic Peninsula forward and backward.

No services are planned.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Jefferson Land Trust at www.saveland.org/Involved and the American Heart Association at www.heart.org.

Published in The Peninsula Daily News on Sept. 22, 2013