Norman Sarchin July 2, 1918 – July 24, 2012

Norman Sarchin, a pioneer in aviation engineering, the Seattle ski scene, and a 57-year resident of Mercer Island, died July 24. He was 94. Norm was born in Seattle to Nathan and Susan Sarchin. He graduated from Garfield High, then went on to earn a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Washington in the class of 1940. During WW II, Norm went to work for Boeing as a flight engineer assigned to the B-17 and B-29 bombers. When not in the air, he tested engines in the basement of Boeing’s famous Red Barn, now part of the Museum of Flight in Seattle. After leaving Boeing in 1946, he met the love of his life, Donna Shekter, at a mixer dance at Temple De Hirsch in Seattle. They were married in March 1948, and moved to Mercer Island in 1955, where they built a house on the North End amid deer, raccoons and a whole bunch of trees. Norm was a skier, outdoorsman and sailor. In the early 1940s, he and a group of friends took their Model A Ford up to Snoqualmie Pass, going in reverse up the steepest part near Denny Creek because the Model A had more torque in that gear. When the Snoqualmie Pass ski area was only a few Quonset huts and the old Thunderbird chair, he took his young family skiing, with two-year-old son Larry introduced to the sport by riding the rope tow between Norm’s legs. He and Donna vacationed in Sun Valley in the early days, dancing in the Duchin Room of the Sun Valley Lodge next to the Hollywood elite that used it as their winter headquarters in the 40’s and ‘50s.Norm was one of the founders of Temple B’nai Torah on Mercer Island in 1969, serving on the original board of directors of the temple led by the family’s good friend, the late Rabbi Jacob Singer. The family later returned to Temple DeHirsch-Sinai and remain active in that congregation.In later years, Norm and Donna traveled most of the western U.S. with their RV and three miniature poodles. Norm’s last trip was just this spring, down the California coast and over to Las Vegas.Norm is survived by his wife, Donna, sons Larry of Mercer Island and Jeff of Kenmore, niece Dianne Sarchin Vogt, and niece Lynne Shekter Kluger and Ron Kluger of Indianola, WA. Please make remembrances to Temple DeHirsch–Sinai, www.tdhs-nw.org. 656222