Walter L. "Walt" Wynne

Walter L. “Walt” Wynne, age 72, was born in Minot, North Dakota in 1940.

His family moved to Ferndale when he was 3 years old & they bought the farm Walt lived on for the rest of his life when he was 5 years old. Walt spent 3 years serving in the US Army in Patton Barracks in Germany with the 519th Transportation Company. He married Cory Hampson in 1964; they were married for 47 years & raised two children, David & Natalie on the farm. In 1965 Walt & Cory bought 1/2 of his parent’s farm & started building their house themselves. Walt worked as a lead man in the plumbing department at Uniflite. He was Shop Steward, Vice President & President of Shipwrights Local 2071 until being elected Business Rep for the Union. He worked as Business Rep for the Union for 17 years.

Walt then worked at Wight Marine doing repair work on oil tankers. His last job was at Fairhaven Shipyard until an injury forced him to retire in 2002. He worked his whole life on his farm that he loved.

In retirement he started growing & then hyperdizing dahlias & Wynne's Dahlias was born. There are over 75 varieties of Wyn’s Dahlias all over the world now. His dahlia garden of 6,000 to 7,000 dahlia plants & the vegetable garden next to it were his joy. Walt loved his farm, growing things & helping people, but most of all he loved his family. He was preceded in death by his parents John & Freda Wynne, his brother Bud, brother in law Ken Mork & his grandson Devin. Walt is survived by his wife, Cory; son, David & his wife Kim; daughter, Natalie & her husband Steve; Grandchildren, Kyle, Nicole & Sydney; sisters, Pat Miller & her husband Joe, Jean Bowers & her husband Joe, Phyllis Solvang & her husband Merlin, Mabel McPherson & her husband Paul, Carol Whipple & her husband Robin, Connie DeBoer, Joan Sandmann & her husband Jerry, Judy Mork, Linda York & her husband Ron; brothers Jim Wynne & his wife Rayella, Ben Wynne & his wife Bonnie; and many, many treasured nieces & nephews, great nieces & nephews & countless cherished friends. A celebration of Walt's life will be held Saturday, March 2nd at the big red barn located at 1408 Willey's Lake Road Ferndale, WA (across the street from Walt & Cory's farm) Celebration will start at 3:00 pm. Pictures & handwritten stories of Walt would be appreciated. We will be sharing stories of Walt's life & encourage anyone who wants to share to join in. Memorials can be made at any People Bank Branch in memory of Walt Wynne for the Wynne's Dahlia Foundation. Memorials will create a Wynne's Dahlia Award to be used at Dahlia shows in the Pacific Northwest to carry on the Wynne's Dahlias legacy.