Herbert B. Brice

Avid supporter of Electricians and RC Airplane Hobbyists everywhere.

Born and raised in Seattle in 1932 to Bevis and Aldea Brice, Herb attended Garfield High School, where he participated and excelled in baseball, football and basketball (lettered in all three each year). He went on to enlist in the Marines with a similar passion and remained true to the Corps to the very end. Upon completion of his service, Herb settled down and started his family, most of whom remain in the area today. While residing in North Seattle for many years, he also took time on the weekends to build a three-bedroom home on the south end of Whidbey Island for his parents and beloved Uncle Ken, which remains a family retreat to this day.

Herb enjoyed a busy and rewarding career with Seattle City Light from 1953 to 1990, where he started as a lineman and worked his way up through the ranks to journeyman, foreman and ultimately, as managerial supervisor. He even signed on as an associate professor at North Seattle Community College, where he mentored and taught apprentice linemen so they could go on to achieve journeyman status in the trade. Herb was present, participated, and/or oversaw the repairs and restoration of power to hundreds of thousand homes and businesses for each of the major storms and outages we all remember over the years.

It was during this time he met and married his current wife of 40 years, Valerie Von Stubbe. As the kids grew and went their separate ways, it was with her help they settled in the Woodinville area to become “Gentleman Ranchers,” playing host to impressive long-haired Scottish Highland cattle and a whole host of other critters, including horses, sheep, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats and a few strays of unknown origin.

Herb was anything but “retired” after leaving City Light. Life moved on but never slowed down. Herb also held a similar passion for building and flying quarter scale remote-controlled planes. That’s quarter scale as in one-fourth the size of a real airplane. These included all the vintage aircraft of the war years and glory days of aviation. He helped found and enjoyed an active tenure with the Big Bird Flying Club with many friends he grew to know and treasure over the years.

Herb passed away comfortably at home with Valerie by his side Dec. 9 after a brief but determined illness. There was no one thing that took him down as he was too stubborn for that. Nope, pretty much everything just wore out all at once, and that was it. All will miss his passion and dogged determination in everything he did.

Herb is survived by his loving family, which includes wife Valerie, sons Mike (Leah), Howard (Christie) and Scott Wyatt; daughters Delores (Jay), Cheryl (Bruce) and Kerri Kingwell. From there, there are nine grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. He will be missed by his family and all the wonderful friends that knew him.

No public services are being held. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to Northwest Harvest or your own favorite cause.