"Lou" Dewey, 82, helped Seattle rescue its past

By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Mrs. Dewey — almost everybody called her "Lou" — would have wanted it that way.

A gracious, witty woman who was a behind-the-scenes force for historic preservation and the arts in Seattle, Mrs. Dewey was well-known for her love of good friends and good food.

Before she died of cancer Monday at 82, she wrote a note to her friends, instructing them that upon her passing, they were to hold an informal gathering at her home, "where I want you to serve good food and strong drinks and then go home," said a friend, Kip Toner, a Seattle benefit auctioneer.

So tomorrow evening, the many and varied Friends of Lou plan to hoist a martini or two in her honor. "It will be elegant," Toner said. "It will be smashing."

Mrs. Dewey and her husband, Robert Hilton Dewey, an Army captain, moved from the Midwest to Seattle in the 1950s. She fell in love with the city.

Through her jobs and participation in groups such as the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board, Historic Seattle and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Mrs. Dewey was able to promote and fight for those things she loved most about the city.

For many years, she worked for Bill Speidel, the late founder of Seattle's Underground Tours. During those years, Seattle was growing as a cultural and civic center. Mrs. Dewey was in the middle of all that, as an account executive for Bill Speidel Public Relations, president of Bill Speidel Enterprises and executive editor of Speidel's Seattle Guide magazine.

"She was a very classy person," said Sunny Speidel, Bill Speidel's daughter and president of Underground Tours. And "she was fun, a quality not to be underestimated."

As editor of Seattle Guide, a publication of local events geared toward out-of-town visitors, Mrs. Dewey got to partake in, and promote, the cultural events she loved: symphony concerts, good restaurants, art-gallery exhibits.

Sheelah McFarland, an Issaquah insurance-company owner who worked for 10 years at Seattle Guide, recalls spirited discussions with Mrs. Dewey on topics ranging from Aubusson rugs to the relative merits of tenors Enrico Caruso and Jussi Bjoerling. Unable to agree who was the better singer, they had "a tenor-off," listening to recordings of the two opera stars over cocktails at Mrs. Dewey's home.
 
Mrs. Dewey carried her love of the quirky and artistic into her personal life.

Each Christmas, "you always knew you were getting something you didn't expect from Lou," said David Cook, a nephew of Mrs. Dewey's who recalls receiving gifts one year encased in tin cans. Mrs. Dewey's companion, inventor Robert McCarthy, had been working on a canning process for salmon that year. "She was so artsy. She always found the unique, nice thing."

She also loved architecture and fought to preserve the city's architectural heritage.

She was a co-founder of the Pioneer Square Association when the neighborhood was run-down and had no distinct identity.

"You'd open your business, you could do your thing, your neighbor could do something else. Nobody cared about each other or the neighborhood" until the association united and focused it, said Tucker McHugh, co-founder of Caffe Appassionato, who worked for Mrs. Dewey at Seattle Guide. "She would often say: 'If the city doesn't recognize its history, it has no future.' "

Mrs. Dewey's husband and companion predeceased her.

She is survived by her sister, Pauline Cook of Rockford, Ill., and five nieces and nephews.

Friends are invited to an informal gathering at Mrs. Dewey's home, 3417 13th Ave. W. in Seattle, tomorrow from 6 to 8 p.m.

Remembrances may be made to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Opera, Nordic Heritage Museum, Lifetime Learning Center and Historic Seattle.

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com