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Phil
Voigt (1942-2009)
Published
in The Seattle Times
7/26/2009
Philip VOIGT
born in Seattle
in 1942, to Mary and Austin Voigt, Phil passed away on July
23rd after a 13 year battle with cancer. As a boy he enjoyed
football, track and golf. He was a Sea Explorer, earned his
skippers license at 18, and worked for Foss Tug Boats for
many years as a young man. Phil met his wife, Nancy Hamre,
at SPU and they were married in 1964. They had two children
in the next three years. Phil left college to take courses
with IBM that lead to a position at Howard S. Wright, Inc.
Phil started a business, Northwest Public Adjusters, which
he owned for 20 years. Phil enjoyed sailing, fishing at the
family cabin, gardening, and playing with his four
grandchildren. He was a strong man of faith and led a men's
Bible study group at First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue for
many years. Phil is survived by his wife, Nancy, his
daughter, Janelle, husband Dave and their daughters, Karly
and Alex; his son Jeff with wife, Michelle and their
children, Sophia and Benjamin. A celebration of Phil's life
will be held on August 10th, 7:00 p.m., at Bellevue First
Presbyterian Church. Memorial donations may be made to the
Multiple Myloma Foundation.
________________________________
I probably met Phil Voigt in 1981 when I first went to
the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue Saturday Morning
Men's Bible Study. But back then, the group was led by
the senior pastor, Dr. David Dilworth. When I returned to the group in 1989, Phil was the
facilitator for a diverse group of nearly 30 men that met in
the Rock Room. For the first six years, I basically
listened and learned. Phil had strong opinions
(Baptist, pre-trib, dispensational) but on the identity of
Jesus, and the way of salvation, he was spot on. Phil
was not a teacher -- he leaned on Rev. Jerry Falwell's notes
in his KJV Bible. But he was an evangelist. Ones
eternal home was foremost on his heart. These photos are
from the group's 2006 retreat.
I
began to fill in for Phil perhaps a dozen years ago. First
it was a Saturday here and there, then a few months, and finally a
number of years. Whenever he was feeling up to it, I
encouraged him to lead "his" group. (It was always his
group.) But it became my responsibility, my calling, by
the will of the group and the will of God.
On a recent Saturday I pointed out that
many groups had prospered by rotating their leadership -- this
is something I'd reported following a Small Group Leaders
meeting at the church. One wag in our group said I should
"stand up and turn around." That's the "leadership
rotation" they liked. While Phil was much loved and will
be missed, God has provided for the teaching of His Word in this
ongoing fellowship.
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Our
Traditional Fourth of July
Steve White brought the beer and I
cooked the burgers and kielbasa and we once again
enjoyed the fireworks at the Bellevue Downtown Park.
I managed to capture another series of great shots.
This time I did it right. Setting my D300 on a
tripod, I connected a manual shutter release
cable. I set the camera for shutter priority with
a speed of 3 seconds. (I did forget that the
shutter release button had a "continuous" setting -- and
for a while I wondered why the camera kept taking
pictures when I didn't press the button!)
I've used the shot on the left twice -- once to update
my SL8.com website, and once as a background image.
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Grandma
Ginger turns 87
July 17th, we had a little party
for Ginger. She's been moving slow -- and it's no
wonder -- she's scheduled for her second hip replacement
on September 9th.
She continues to be amazingly active, driving herself to
church at UPC, keeping up with her P.E.O. ladies group,
and supporting Susan in her many endeavors.
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Aunt
Ellie at 100
I was remiss in not including the celebration of Aunt Ellie's
100th birthday back in February. Ginger and Susan
organized a lunch and party at Emerald Heights. She had
balloons and a big cake.
This month I created an 11"x14" collage of photos from that
event and bought a frame. Ginger will present it to her.
These days Ellie sleeps much and tires easily. She's been
getting thinner as she does not always stay awake through her
meals. |
 
Annie Returns from South Africa
On July 12th, Annie's Delta flight arrived back in Seattle.
She had spent a month in South Africa with her professor and
students from the SPU English department.
Along with visiting historical sites (museums, prisons, etc.),
she also helped build a Habitat for Humanity house during one of
the weeks .We had a welcome home party. I gave Tom my leather hat
because it matched the one that Annie had bought.
Fortunately for Annie, one of my software tools can recover lost
photos. She needed to buy a new camera photo card while on
her trip when her card failed. She sadly thought she had lost
over 400 of her photos from her first three days in Africa.
Having a geek for a dad has at least some advantages.
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  She had a great time and brought us all a pile of gifts. (I got
the beach rock from the Indian Ocean that I'd asked for. And it
has a "wishing" line.)
She also enjoyed shopping. . . .
What follows is Annie's creative
musing on the process of bargaining in the craft market of
South Africa's
National Arts Festival. The trials and triumphs are
sometimes harrowing, sometimes thought-provoking, but always
worth it.
"Good price for you--only for you."
"Almost for free."
"I like you. I give you discount.
Good discount. Big discount. Make an offer."
"What you buy it for? What's your
bottom price?"
It's a tense relationship, buyer and
seller, but a jolly one. You look, he sells, she sells
seashells. "Free to look, free to touch."
"Yes, I see. But hard to think.
I have to think--I'm not buying for me" (anymore). You
already bought souvenirs for yourself, hundreds of
Rand's worth.
South Africa's National Arts
Festival in Grahamstown can be a dangerous place for bargain
hunters. As long as the hunter doesn't mind being eaten
alive once in a while, you'll do all right.
Take Mama Gracious, for instance. You call her Mama,
trying to act like a local but failing. She sits
crocheting beneath a rack of her wares, beside a ten square
metre spread of crocheted placemats and painted wooden bowls.
Her work is delicate and beautiful. Your eyes lock on a
sweater and you know you're in trouble. Your family and
friends do needlework. You know the workmanship that went
into that sweater. You know you won't be able to get
yourself to bargain down very much. She sells you two
bowls as well, for more than your friend paid yesterday--much
more--but you'll get over it and you'll do better.
Besides, that sweater really was worth the asking price.
It's easier to argue with the men.
But even then, it's not arguing. "You like that necklace?
50 Rand. But for you, 40," he says. You ponder.
You ponder too much. "But if you like more than one, you
see," he prompts, "You pick few and then we talk."
"We talk"--that's the catchphrase.
You bargain back and forth. Not once do you think the word
"haggle." That's too crude. Buyer and seller here
are friends, or try to be. This is a festival, after all.
You've seen six performances in four days, you're out of Africa
in another four days, and this is the last big souvenir
extravaganza--except for the Rooibos you'll buy in
Cape Town. Have to have the Rooibos.
"Wait for Grahamstown," they said.
Well now, what are you waiting for?
There are tricks on both sides of the
table, and both sides know it. Sometimes your tricks work
and soemtimes his do, or hers.
"How much for the maraca?" you ask.
"35 Rand."
"Too much, 15. My friend bought one
for 15 yesterday" (it was true!).
"Not 15. How about 25 Rand."
"I'll give you 35 for two." That's the
price you want, and that's the price you'll pay, but he's not
done.
"Sisie," he says. Sister, "35 is my
cost."
You've got him now. "How can 35 be
cost if my friend got one from you for 15...?"
"All right, all right." He drops two in a
bag and gets you out of there. It's a small victory, especially
when you think about the sweater and the bowls, but every little
ego boost helps. It's a drug, bargaining, a game, but one
where the ideal is for both to win.
For the sake of your pocket book, you try
not to think too much about the person behind the table and how
many mouths he or she might be feeding. That's why it's
hardest to bargain with old women, especially since you're a
young American who probably has enough money in the bank
somewhere to buy her whole stall, and her neighbor's, even
though her neighbor's selling drums.
These sellers come from all over Africa--Congo, Malawi,
Kenya, South Africa
itself--and they all know you're American. But it's okay.
You might pay more, you might not, but you've seen the
townships. You don't mind, deep down, putting a few more
Rand into the African economy than you had planned
to. It's the price of bargaining. Sooner or later
you face the fact that you're feeding them and their families.
That's the point at which you always say "good" and walk away
smiling, with a bag full of necklaces for all your friends who
haven't been to Africa.
"Thank you, Sisie. You will like it."
"Thank you, Boetie. I know I will."
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Bits and Pieces
At the top of this web page I've put in a new banner photo. The
Bellevue skyline continues to change. Who knows what it'll look
like when this journal comes to its close?
The
final week of July, I received the unformatted pieces of the Maintenance of Accreditation Report (a once every 10 year
project).
I reformatted the 74 page Volume I and the 200+ page appendices (Volume
II). On Saturday, August 1st, I had six sets copied and bound, and
prepared the required companion CD. Our accreditation site visit
is in early October.
A
week of "vacation" the week of the 20th had me working with the chain
saw and shredder nearly all week. A similar week will be
spent in August.
Nathanael got paid for his week at Camp Casey, serving on the staff of
the Falcon Running Camp. And JB took a week of acting camp
on "Acting for the Camera."
On
Wednesday, July 29th, we survived the record 103 degree day (and the HOT
week). Two nights, Nancy, Annie, Nathanael and Grandma Jean stayed
up with Susan at her air conditioned "estate." J.B. and I held
down the fort in Bellevue.
SEATTLE --
The
National
Weather Service
reported Sea-Tac Airport reaching 103 degrees, making it the hottest day
in the history of local weather records.
The previous all-time record high was 100 degrees
and was set on July 20, 1994, at Sea-Tac Airport and on July 16, 1941,
when records were kept downtown at the Federal Building. Weather records
for Seattle began in 1891.
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