Timothy Faris Sommers, our beloved brother, uncle, cousin and friend, passed away April 29, 2016, due to sepsis after open-heart surgery.

He was born in Morehead, Minnesota, on June 30, 1950, and lived in West Fargo, ND, Receda, CA also Yuma, Somerton and Prescott, AZ, before finally settling on Vashon Island, WA, as his permanent home in the mid-1970's.

Tim's education began in Receda for Kinder, in Yuma at OC Johnson then Somerton Elementary Schools, progressing to Kofa High School, and finally, Prescott College, where he studied while dabbling in rock climbing, Outward

Bound, rafting through the Grand Canyon and traveling throughout the United States with his friends, a period he described as one of the best of his life.

Early in his career, Tim worked as lead electrical mechanic for Yuma Automotive Electric. On Vashon, he co-owned and operated Burton Shell, a gas station where he was the sole mechanic for more than a decade. He joined the staff of Cherry Creek Windows & Doors as his next endeavor where he eventually became VP in charge of production.

All his life, Tim dove into inventing things. It began at an early age always devising novel ways to construct stuff from scratch, such as the fireworks he created for a display for his family in the desert near their Somerton home one 4th of July.

A Renaissance man of sorts, Tim found real life far more interesting than fiction. He loved anything related to science, especially electronics, computers, physics, astronomy and chemistry, reading voraciously in all these fields. He communicated with radio enthusiasts all over the world. His many other hobbies included panning for gold, cooking, repairing antique TV's and radios, building model planes, studying rocketry, listening to music and playing trumpet. He loved reading, writing and arguing about politics. He wrote his local and national politicians and penned letters to the editor. A die-hard Seahawks fan, he also enjoyed watching college sports and pro golf tournaments, of course, while pursuing several other hobbies simultaneously.

The family relished his company whenever he managed a visit back in Arizona one or twice a year. Sitting outside in the sun by the pool was his favorite kind of day there.

Tim's family and friends love him and will always miss him. He was a one-of-a –kind man who was brilliant, warm, kind, and generous. A gifted conversationalist, Tim could speak knowledgeably with anyone on any given subject.

According to Tim's wishes the family's private memorial will be scattering his ashes "so my molecules will last forever on earth" on Puget Sound, off Alki Point in Washington, and into the Colorado River in Arizona.

Tim was preceded in death by his father, Faris Franklin Sommers in 2008, and his mother, Patricia Lou (Early) Sommers, in 2010. He is survived by his sister Lynn Shoop (Michael) and their sons: Nathan (Rocio and their children Noah and Samuel); Aaron (Rebecca); Matthew (Vanessa); and Tim's brothers, Frank Sommers and Scott Sommers (Delaine and their son, Richard Hanen (Angie).

Tim and his family are grateful for the many friends who loved and cared for him and whom he called his support system.