Tributes pour in honoring Arnold Torseth, Curt McCauley

Good teachers have a lifelong impact.

Great teachers, like Arnold Torseth and Curt McCauley, leave enduring legacies that span generations.

Their many contributions here will not soon – if ever – be forgotten.

The two La Conner men, each of whom passed earlier this month, for years modeled poise, wisdom and expertise in multiple areas while inspiring others to achieve their dreams.

They did so from different venues; Torseth in the classroom, McCauley in the martial arts studio.

They had in common an ability to share knowledge in a way that was both meaningful and memorable, the proof of which can be found in dozens of personal tributes posted on social media over the past couple weeks.

Numerous people, like retired La Conner High teacher Judy Odell Craker, saluted both men.

“He was a strong and caring man,” she said of McCauley. “He had a zest for life.”

Of Torseth and his late wife, Priscilla, who were wed 67 years, Craker said they were “great examples of Christian love and faith.”

McCauley, born in 1943 in Sacramento, CA. and growing up on Bainbridge Island, saw life as an adventure not to be missed. He worked variously in law enforcement and construction, drove a taxi, owned two businesses and was a partner in another, and like many Puget Sounders was on Boeing’s payroll for a time.

In the mid-1980s, McCauley began training in martial arts, leading to his launch of the Channel Town Karate School. It wasn’t long before he was drawing students of all ages to a large barn on the Cram farm at the south end of town, where beneath a draped South Korean flag McCauley taught martial arts tactics, traditions and philosophies.

No detail was too small to convey.

For example, during a 1993 class session covered by the Channel Town Press newspaper, McCauley noted how the terrain of various regions in Asia helped determine which martial arts forms – punching, kicking, or grappling – were developed there.

Martial arts became a defining feature of McCauley’s life for 35 years. He was a member of the Pacific Northwest region’s Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Board of Directors and traveled with wife Gretchen to major national and international martial arts events and gatherings.

“He was a mentor to many of us in the martial arts,” Doug Countryman, of Wenatchee, said of McCauley, “and was a father figure to many.”

McCauley likewise promoted the fine arts and was admired around town for his ability to draw striking images at a moment’s notice, occasionally on café napkins.

La Conner artist Chris Elliott perhaps put it best.

“He was a man of many talents,” she stressed, “and had a heart as big as the sky.”

McCauley showed that heart often during his later years, bravely battling through a series of health setbacks in his 70s.

“He fought hard for his life,” said Heidi Riley, “and was such a shining example of a lifelong learner – never giving up and seeing many facets to every situation and looking forward to whatever comes next.”

Torseth, too, was much lauded for a heartfelt devotion to the students he guided as a La Conner elementary teacher and principal.

“He touched many lives as an educator,” said Belinda Torseth, one of his daughters-in-law and herself among Torseth’s former students.

Her sentiment is borne out by others whom he taught, universally describing Torseth as “kind,” “nice,” “gentle” and “caring” when expressing their condolences.

“I was only sent to his principal’s office twice,” Neil Bretvick, now a Seattle area accountant, said. “Once was for fighting and once was for climbing on the school roof. He was very nice both times.”

Torseth was an educational Renaissance Man, embracing a professorial approach to deliver lessons on literature, explain science experiments, demonstrate how to diagram sentences and introduce less well-known aspects of both world and U.S. history.

In addition, he was frequently called upon to diagnose and accurately assess any number of playground scrapes, grazes and injuries.

Born in 1930 in Conway to Sivert and Marit Torseth, who family members say were “right off the boat from Norway,” Torseth served with the U.S. Army in the Korean War prior to enrolling at Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) and majoring in education.

Upon graduation, he joined the faculty at La Conner Elementary, where he taught sixth and seventh grades before moving into administration and becoming a respected community leader. Former colleagues remember a quick wit, keen intelligence and deadpan sense of humor so widely appreciated that Torseth was asked to be a keynoter when Landy James Gym was formally dedicated.

Torseth retired in 1982. Along the way he – as did McCauley – left an indelible mark.

“He was a very special person in my life,” former La Conner teacher Nancy Hill Hoffman said of Torseth, “both as an educator and friend.”