Remembering Dixy Lee Ray

Fox Island Historical Museum pay tribute to one of its own

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

Anyone who visits the Fox Island Historical Museum through April will have a chance to learn about one of the most colorful women in Washington state’s history. Dr. Dixy Lee Ray was the state’s first woman governor in an era that wasn’t all that kind to women. She was born in 1914. And yet, during her 79 years, she became a marine biologist, served as Chairperson of the Atomic Energy Commission and was the first director of the Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. On top of that, she was an athlete, a farmer and an artist who created beautiful jewelry and intricate wood carvings. One of her creations still remains as the museum’s logo.

“We have the largest collection of Dixy Lee Ray memorabilia in the state,” said museum volunteer Gail Jones.

That collection is even larger during the exhibit, with items loaned by Ray’s niece, Karen Reid, who lives on the island.

“Dixy was, without a doubt, the most generous human being I ever knew,” Reid said. “She had no use for money — no use for material things. She forfeited her paycheck at the Pacific Science Center to keep it out of the red.”

Some people described her as being rude and abrasive, Reid said, but she saw her aunt as a no-nonsense woman who had little tolerance for people who thought they knew things that they didn’t.

“She respected people who came from all walks of life,” Reid said. “But if you wanted to start an argument about the environment or politics or so-and-so, you’d better have your facts straight. She showed me such generosity and kindness on a personal level, but I knew from the millisecond I met her, I’d better not pull any crap with this lady.”

An exhibit at the museum displays three pages listing Ray’s accomplishments. To name a few, she was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in 1937, was named one of Harper’s Bazaar “Top 10 Most Influential Women in the Nation” in 1977, was Washington’s governor from 1977-81 and won the “Outstanding Women in Energy” award in 1981.

“I come from a very strong female family,” said Reid, whose aunt had four sisters. All five of them graduated and paid their way through college.

“When (Ray) was young, she wanted to be an engineer more than anything,” Reid said. “But engineering colleges wouldn’t accept women, so she switched her major to zoology and became a marine biologist. And she was quite a good one.”

A Fox Island resident, Ray became the chief scientist on the Te Vega, a research vessel.

“Her idea of mending a sail was to use a safety pin,” museum volunteer John Arno said.

Photographs at the museum depict Ray trudging around Puget Sound beaches in rubber boots, shaking hands with Henry Kissinger and Richard M. Nixon, and pow-wowing at barbecues on the island. She wore dresses with knee-high socks at important political functions and named the pigs on her farm after newspaper reporters, so when she slaughtered one, she could tell everyone who she had for dinner.

Ray’s book, “Trashing the Planet,” which chronicles issues like acid rain and ozone depletion, is on display at the museum.

“People thought she was really far out,” volunteer Jane Schuelein said. “But that’s because she was way ahead of her time, especially environmentally.”

“What people don’t know about her is that she really loved the environment,” Reid added. “She looked at it as a science.”

Reid said her aunt took a trip to Germany to study how the Germans were creating a green environment.

“People thought, because she was savvy about atomic energy, that she was a non-environmentalist,” Reid said. “But that was the last thing she was.”

Reid believes her aunt was unappreciated because she did not play the political game.

“Her idea of living a good life was not ripping people off in the state of Washington,” Reid said. “She knew people that padded their pockets, and that was not even in her vocabulary. She would greet you with open arms, if you were honest.”

Ray also helped her niece realize her dream of raising European, warm-blood jumping horses.

“She truly cared about people, and without her, I wouldn’t be here,” Reid said. “I will love her ’til my dying day.”

Museum exhibit

The Dixy Lee Ray exhibit will be on display at the Fox Island Historical Museum through April.

A memory book will be available during the exhibit for visitors who wish to record their comments about Dr. Dixy Lee Ray. Complimentary copies of Ray’s biography, “Is It True What They Say About Dixy?” by Louis R. Guzzo will be available while supplies last.

The Fox Island Historical Museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 1017 9th Ave. on Fox Island.

For more information, visit www.FoxIslandMuseum.org.

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.