Edward H. Browitt

Edward Harold Browitt, a proud Roslyn native, U.S. Army veteran and educator whose teaching and coaching career spanned four decades, died March 7, 2025, less than three weeks shy of his 90th birthday. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 15, 2025 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Roslyn. The Rosary will be prayed at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 14, also at the Church.

Ed was born March 25, 1935 in Roslyn, the first of five children of Harold and Elizabeth (Franciscovich) Browitt. He attended Roslyn School through 8th grade and graduated from Cle Elum High School in 1953. While in high school, Ed spent two summers manning a U.S. Forest Service fire lookout on Jolly Mountain, an experience he frequently recalled as his favorite job.

Following high school, Ed was drafted into the U.S. Army and served on active duty then as a reservist before being recalled for an additional year of duty. The most memorable of his military experiences was a deployment to East Asia, where he served with the United Nations Command along the Demilitarized Zone near the 38th Parallel shortly after the conclusion of the Korean War.

After being honorably discharged, Ed returned to Roslyn and worked in various jobs closely tied to Upper Kittitas County; he logged, was a member of Forest Service fire and trail crews and toiled in the coal industry, both above and below ground. He worked in the Upper County’s last active mine, Roslyn’s No. 9, narrowly surviving a cave-in not long before it ceased operation. While Ed escaped, his lunch bucket and the letterman’s jacket he borrowed that morning from his brother David didn’t; they remain entombed somewhere beneath Suncadia.

In 1963, Ed married Sheila Starkovich, herself a Roslyn native (though her adolescence was spent in West Seattle) and, like Ed, a person who would dedicate much of her adult life to teaching. Having attended Central Washington State College while serving in the Army Reserve, Ed resumed his studies in 1963 at Wenatchee Valley College (while Sheila taught at Wenatchee High School) then returned to CWSC (while Sheila taught at Cle Elum High School), graduating in 1966. The two worked together briefly in Carnation, then moved on to the Lake Stevens School District, where they spent the remainder of their teaching careers. At Lake Stevens High School, Ed taught history and contemporary world problems while coaching the Vikings’ varsity baseball team for several seasons. He retired in 1996.

Baseball was an enduring passion for Ed – as a player during his youth, a coach in adulthood and a fan at every stage. He was a zealous supporter of the Dodgers – both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles versions – and was especially delighted by the franchise’s eighth World Series title, captured this past fall. He occasionally vented frustration over the Seattle Mariners’ failure to reach that championship plateau, but remained an avid follower of the team nonetheless.

Yet fishing was Ed’s true lifelong obsession. He devoted countless hours to the pursuit of steelhead, whether wading the Stillaguamish, drifting the Skagit or taking up the chase on rivers on the Olympic Peninsula or in Idaho. He was similarly enthusiastic about going after salmon, a saltwater quest that ranged from Puget Sound to the ocean side of Vancouver Island. However, it is almost certain that he prized nothing more than what initially hooked him, so to speak. To suggest that Ed viewed Fish Lake and Hyas Lake as ordinary destinations, or that he looked at eastern brook as just another species to catch … well, that would drastically understate his appreciation for things that eternally held a special place in his heart.

There is far more to Ed’s story. Among other interests and activities, he spent many an autumn hunting hunt deer and elk in the east Cascades; he was fascinated by World War II history, which nicely dovetailed with Sheila’s fondness for European travel; he was heavily involved in Kiwanis International, at one time serving as president of the Lake Stevens club and a governor for the state of Washington; he relished the occasional visit to a fine restaurant or casino, and he enjoyed card games, whether or not money was at stake. He and Sheila celebrated their golden wedding anniversary four months before her death in 2013.

He is survived by his sister, Eileen Stewart, of Fairfield, Calif.; brother, Robert, and wife Lisa, of Roslyn; and sister-in-law, Jean Browitt, of Roslyn, along with several nephews and nieces. In addition to Sheila, Ed was preceded in death by two brothers, Gerald and David; a sister-in-law, Ruth, Gerald’s wife; and a brother-in-law, Ken, Eileen’s husband.

Memorials may be made to the restoration fund for Immaculate Conception Church, 303 W. Second Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Johnston & Williams of Cle Elum. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.johnston-williams.com