Alex H. Luedicke

Alex H. Luedicke, 86, a 30-year resident of Port Madison, died March 10, surrounded by his family at his Sequim home.

He was born Aug. 29, 1918 in Beaver Dam, Wis., to Alexander Sr. and Elsa Luedicke. He attended Milwaukee University School, earned a mechanical engineering degree from Cornell University in 1940 and was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

He married Kathryn Ann Webb in Milwaukee, October 1941.

He served as an officer on a U.S. Navy salvage vessel during WWII. He was a hard hat diver who made numerous dives on sunken ships in the South Pacific. After the war, he worked for metal fabricating firms in Milwaukee.

He and family moved to Bainbridge Island in 1961. He was a Boeing Co. senior design engineer in hydraulics, working on the 727, 737, 747, AWACS, 757 and did studies for the 767. He authored five patents and published several technical papers.

His wife Kathryn died in 1975, and he married Marian Nicholson in 1976.

He earned a master of science degree from the University of Washington in 1977. He and Marian moved to Sequim in 1991, and she died in 2002.

He was a lay reader and an active parishioner at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sequim.

He enjoyed swimming, skating, skiing, photography, painting, gardening, sailing and designing high-performance sailing craft. An accomplished woodworker, he built numerous multi-hull sailboats.

In Wisconsin, he was a member of Cedar Lake Yacht Club and raced inland lake scows for many years. He later became a member of Port Madison Yacht Club on Bainbridge.

Survivors include his children, Nancy Luedicke, Susan Wyvel (Bill), Alex Luedicke III (Ron), and Jane (Greg); two grandchildren, Michael Wyvel (Kim) and Peter Wyvel; and a great-grandson, Logan Alexander Wyvel.

Services will be at 1 p.m. April 9 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 525 N. Fifth Ave., Sequim, followed by a reception. Donations can be made to Assured Hospice of Clallam County or a charity of the donor’s choice.