Gabe and I shared many of the same passions in this life.  A love of the outdoors that God had created, a love for his family, his wife and three year old daughter.  My wife Jan and I lost our daughter, Heather Elizabeth when she was 3 ½ years old 32 years ago.  I grieved her loss for a long time, but have come to realize that God put Heather and Gabe on earth for a purpose.  The purpose being to love and help others as best that they can.

I do think Gabe exemplified God’s love for others.

Gabe, as I recall, came to the county in 2011 after working in private practice for AHBL, which is always a demanding job.  I know because I too had worked for 10 years at RMA in Edmonds in private practice.  I too came back in 2011 after a year off taking care of two ailing parents during the recession and some of my own health issues before mom died at 90 in March 2011 and dad died in April 2011 after suffering a massive stroke 2 days prior to his 92nd birthday.  They both died 23 days apart after being married for over 70 years.

Death makes one reflect on how short life is, however, Gabe made every day worth living due to his strong energy, sense of humor and passion for the environment and God’s creation.  He loved the trees, as do I, birds, animals, fish and people and how to serve their needs through food, agriculture and jobs.

We ate lunch together at least 3 days per week in our lunchroom at work.  Gabe’s lunch was always the gourmet lunch you could smell coming out of the microwave or he was still whipping up or refreshing and building a new salad for himself.

Gabe and I were on 3 long range planning teams together; 1) NPDES, to protect Puget Sound and maintain clean drinking water for all the citizens of the county; 2) 2015 Comprehensive Plan Update, a GMA requirement; and 3) Critical Areas Update, a GMA requirement.  We also interfaced quite a bit after the Oso landslide this year to see if there were other technical things that could be looked at to better protect property and people from building or developing in high risk landslide hazard areas.  He was excellent at looking at multiple sides of issues, both pro and con as best he could.

Gabe and I also shared our love of skiing together, I mentioned to him that I had been coming to see or listen to Warren Miller ski movies for over 60 years.  I was not quite 2 years old when my parents said I started crying when the skiers crashed in the movie and Warren said “someone’s not listening” during his presentation.  Gabe chuckled at that story as he said some of the crashes could even make a grown man cry.  Gabe told me that he mountain biked and I told him I never got into that or snowboarding, but still rode my (2) 10-speed bikes at age 61 ½.  I told him that I started skiing at age 2 at Sun Valley, Idaho, my older brother Don Sleight was 13 at that time and his ski race coach at Sun Valley and Stevens Pass was Jack Nagel.

I skied until age 40 when I broke my back and neck in several car accidents 6 days apart in October 1993.  But, I still keep going to the Warren Miller movies where I saw Gabe this last year again.  He had a ski cabin at Scenic and my parents had a ski cabin east of Gold Bar in Snohomish County till about 2000.  Gabe was a great guy, a friend, co-worker and a loving father; he will be missed by ALL who knew him.

Randy Sleight

Chief Engineering Officer

Snohomish County Planning & Development Services

4:30 a.m. 8/5/14