Everett Thykeson Science Scholarship

Everett Thykeson was an alumnus of the University of Washington, but his deeper loyalty was to Lutheran higher education. In 1987, he sent a check to CLU along with the outline of a plan for a science/engineering scholarship. What CLU could not have guessed at the time was how doggedly faithful Everett would be to the institution once he had determined his course of action.

Everett lived most of his life in the Northwest but came to California for work. At the time he initiated his scholarship he was employed as a chemist at Clorox Technical Center in Pleasanton, California, enjoying the bachelor life in San Ramon. He was as productive in his off-hours as he was on the job. His interests were endless—gardening, canning, writing children’s plays, making wine and playing the organ, to name a few. In other words, he lived life to the fullest.

Planning ahead was something Everett also did well. When he was in his 60s, he began thinking about his retirement, which occurred in 1991. He considered moving to Vancouver where his brother lived, but instead settled on Seattle within walking distance of the UW campus. He maintained a simple, almost austere lifestyle—no telephone, no automobile, no microwave and no television. But he soon became involved as a docent with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture on the UW campus. He became especially interested in the history of the Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest and pursued every opportunity to learn about their culture.

It could easily be said that Everett had an insatiable appetite for culture. In addition to the interests already mentioned, he loved attending symphony concerts, listening to Baroque music, and helping to rebuild a pipe organ for Roosevelt High School in north Seattle. The organ project took him six months to complete.

In spite of Everett’s wide-ranging interests, when it came to the intent of the Everett Thykeson Science Scholarship, he was very clear: it was to be awarded to an upper-division student majoring in one of the natural sciences or pre-engineering. The first award was made in 1989, but Everett’s support continued for many years. In a letter he included a quotation on an index card that explained some of his thinking:

“The rewards and joys emanating from providing endowments for grants and
scholarships for students in colleges and universities such as CLU, can be stated
briefly: They are an investment in the future, wherein the benefactors will become contributors to solutions of our planet’s dilemmas.”