Obituary

Jeffrey Scott Lindsay passed away surrounded by his family after a brief and unexpected illness on November 8th, 2022. Jeff was born on June 27th, 1960, in Pullman, Washington. His family relocated to his hometown of Bellingham shortly afterward. Jeff was active in his church and served as an altar boy at Sacred Heart Church in Fairhaven. He was also a member of the Boy Scouts of America where he developed a passion for the outdoors. He attended Sehome high school, where he graduated with honors in 1978 and attended Western Washington University.

Jeff’s love of the outdoors led him to pursue a career in the timber and road building industry, where he excelled as a master driller and blasting expert with A.L.R.T.  Corporation. He developed a professional mastery in applied physics and geology and set himself apart in the industry for decades as a highly respected blasting engineer. His legacy includes a large body of work and the enduring example and influence that he had on colleagues as a consummate professional trusted with a very dangerous job. Many of the logging truck roads that he helped build can be seen from I-5 and from roads throughout Whatcom and Skagit counties and help to conserve our forested areas and prevent the spread of fires. His uncommon attention to detail ensured that he, and those around him, stayed in one piece.

He loved music and loved to travel. He and his wife Sonja made annual trips to Mexico where they made many friends who would return with them at the same time each year. They also traveled to be with their daughter Danielle “Dani” as she moved from assignment to assignment as a Naval Aviator. Jeff’s hobbies included all types of fishing, from family trips to lakes in Canada to deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. He and Sonja enjoyed long walks through the woods and urban trails near their home in Bellingham that often ended up at their favorite Mexican restaurant, where they developed cherished friendships with the staff, and who, among many colleagues, friends, and family, visited his bedside at the hospital.

He made friends wherever he went, he had a warm smile and inviting eyes that let you know that you were with a person who wanted to hear your story, as well as share his. Those who were closest to Jeff, Sonja and Dani, feel they were the luckiest gals in the world to have had him in their lives for over twenty years. Jeff gave Dani away in marriage in September of 2021, and from the memorable speech that he gave at her wedding, it was clear that it was a highlight of his life and that his pride in her was infinite. None of us suspected at that time that he would be taken from us, without notice, in such a short time. While we are left to wonder why, we can only appreciate that his life was well lived and that he was deeply loved.

Jeff was a treasured mentor and friend to his colleagues, was beloved and adored by his family, and was kind and generous with his positive energy, keen intellect, and infectious sense of humor with everyone he met. He will be with us in our hearts forever. He was preceded in death by his mother Madelon in 2007. Jeff leaves behind his adoring wife Sonja Lindsay, daughter Danielle Driggers, and son-in-law Matthew Driggers and is survived by his father Dr. Richard Lindsay, sisters Layne Holt (Dale), Janine Dye (Kurt), Lisa Lindsay (Dave Johnson), Kristin Stollov (Michael), Laura Lindsay (Shawn Scott), Heidi Lindsay, and brother Matthew Lindsay (Julie). He had nineteen nieces and nephews who all looked up to him and enjoyed his storytelling and sense of humor and adventure. In his high school yearbook, he left a quote that his family would like to share with you in his remembrance:

“May the outdoors be with us forever, always at our reach, protected by our hands.”

There will be a Memorial Service at the Deming Log Show Museum Building
on January 28th, 2023, from 12-4 pm.