"Uncle" Ben Woo

If a person's life can be measured by grades of community betterment, then Ben Woo's 84 years would have to be at the top of the charts.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum; the Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority; local activists and politicians; even mushroom enthusiasts — all were touched to the core by Mr. Woo, who died Feb. 8 after suffering a stroke this past November.While his passing is a loss to Seattle and particularly the Asian-American community, the way he lived his life ought to serve as a beacon of inspiration for future generations.

Born in Seattle in 1923, Mr. Woo, the son of a Chinese laundryman, attended Queen Anne High and the University of Chicago, where he studied meteorology. After service as a weather forecaster for the Army Air Corps in World War II, he switched to mechanical engineering at the University of Washington.

He started an architectural firm in Madison Park, was director of King County's Construction and Facilities Management Department, served as president of the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Architects and headed the Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority.

An early backer of the Wing Luke Museum and a champion of low-income elderly housing in the area, Mr. Woo deserves "a lot of credit for the preservation of the International District as the center of Asian culture in the Northwest," according to Bob Santos, a former regional director of the federal Housing and Urban Development Department and longtime community activist.

With his wife, Ruth Woo, Mr. Woo played host and confidant to a number of local leaders, including, in 1982, a young aspirant to the Legislature, Gary Locke.

Locke aptly described Mr. Woo as the "foundation" and "rock" to whom others turned.

For all his accomplishments and interests, however, one need only cite his nickname to sum up the regard with which he was held in the Asian-American community: "Uncle Ben."