Dorothy Harshman, wife of longtime UW and WSU coach, dies at 86

At many of her husband's basketball games, Dorothy Harshman was "assistant coach" and No. 1 fan -- the popular wife who would have players over for dinner, plying them with her famous baked goods and home-cooked meals.

To some of longtime coach Marv Harshman's Washington State and University of Washington players away from home for the first time, the Bothell woman was a surrogate mom and loyal friend.

"She had an amazing way of making you feel comfortable," said Terry Ball, a former all-city and all-state guard from Ballard High School who was one of Marv Harshman's first recruits at WSU.

With her, "no matter how much time had passed, it was as though time stood still," Ball said. "Dorothy would remember everything about you, your kids' names, your mother's name. ... "

Mrs. Harshman died last Monday (March 31) of complications from a stroke she suffered in November. She was 86.

Mrs. Harshman was born in Astoria, Ore., the daughter of a Lutheran minister. She grew up in Tacoma and graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, where in 1942 she was crowned the school's first homecoming queen and got married.

Marv Harshman, now 90, who eventually coached most of the sports at PLU and went on to coach basketball at WSU and the UW before retiring in 1985, said he was a student at PLU when he first saw the future Mrs. Harshman. He was an athlete and she a cheerleader.

"I used to joke with her that the reason I asked her on a date is because she had great legs," he said.

After 66 years of marriage, he still describes Mrs. Harshman as his soul mate. "She was a giver," he said. "Everybody knew that about her and would say so. I said to my boys, we should put that on her tombstone."

In fact, Mrs. Harshman touched the lives of so many that caregivers at the Life Care Center, a rehabilitation center in Bothell, said she received more visitors in a single month than any other resident ever had during an entire year.

Wherever Harshman coached, Mrs. Harshman was the dean of coaches' wives, the one to whom many of the younger women would turn for advice on everything from child rearing to absent spouses, her husband said.

"She had so many acquaintances, when she died I got calls from coaches' wives from all over the country -- D.C., Connecticut, Texas, Oklahoma -- girls whom she's been good friends with," he said.

Before she became ill, Mrs. Harshman and her pastor would visit church members unable to attend Sunday service, taking them her famous baked goods, and soup in the winter, her husband said.

"She was an excellent cook and baker, she was always baking -- for others. The boys would complain: Mom, you're always giving everything away."

Several years ago, Mrs. Harshman co-wrote a cookbook that included a collection of coaches' recipes.

Bruce King, who did Husky play-by-play for many years, said: "Dorothy set the standard for all of us. Marv being the coach and the guy in the spotlight, Dorothy was by his side all the time. She'd turn to the bench and say to the players, "Get your heads in the game."

In addition to her husband, survivors include sons Michael, of Bothell, and David, of Tacoma; brothers Art, Dick and Bob Larson, all of Puyallup; and a grandson. A son, Brian, died before her.

A celebration of life is planned for 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 14514 20th Ave. N.E. in Shoreline.

Donations may be made to the Dorothy Harshman Memorial Fund, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 14514 20th Ave. N.E., Shoreline, WA 98155.

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com