1990

The first citizen of the year was Barbara Swier. She was thanked by the Council for organizing daffodil bulb planting in Mercer Island’s Central Business District. She had single-handedly organized volunteers to plant the Town Center with bulbs to make a great splash of color in the spring. Her work was done with little help from the City and was much appreciated. Since the Council did not have a citizen of the year award at that time, the Council recognized her at a regular meeting. She moved away from the Island before the Council began the practice of posting pictures of their honorees at City Hall. (Next time you visit a City Council meeting or come to City Hall on other business, you can view a gallery of Citizen of the Year photographs in the lobby immediately adjacent to the City Council Chambers.)

That same the Council also thanked Phil Flash for organizing a volunteer litter patrol along the sides of roads. He demonstrated his further commitment to Mercer Island as Santa at the Merchant's Munch, as member of the Historical Society and participant on many community occasions.

1991

The second year, the Council decided to pick a member of the community who had been active in many different ways. They chose John Nelson because he had served as founding member and president of the Arts Council, was a member at large for the Youth and Family Services Board, was active starting and running the Rotary Marathon, volunteered to be a starter at the annual all school track meet, was on the Community Fund board and as such had acted as auctioneer at various auctions. He also was very active in Mercerversery, the occasion of the 25^th year since the City of Mercer Island incorporated. Whenever there was a task for volunteers, John was there helping. John ran for City Council in 1994 and won. He served four years before stepping down to become a Regional Governor for Rotary.

1992

The third year the Fire Department brought the Council the name of an unsung hero that they wished to see honored – Dr. Floyd Short. He was the trainer for all the firefighters to become emergency medical technicians (EMT). He created the first trained EMTs who were able to provide first response before the Medic One arrived. When Hunter Simpson, then president of Physio-Control donated a defibrillator to the Mercer Island Fire Department, Dr. Short began training fire fighters in its use. His experiment got him a 20 year volunteer position as trainer.

1993

By 1993, the Council felt that rules of how and why we chose a Citizen of the Year would be helpful. At that time we felt that we wished to make the award fun and meaningful to us all. We agreed to a set of criteria that would guide the Council in its selection of its Citizen of the Year.

That year there were two nominations of people who had similar activities and were of similar advanced age. Instead of waiting for another year, we agreed to honor them both. Anna Matheson was very active in starting and maintaining the Council on Aging. This group had advocated for seniors and had been instrumental in starting Meals on Wheels, transportation for seniors by volunteers, and many other senior support activities. Delores Erchinger was volunteer extraordinaire for the Chamber of Commerce. She often called every business member to remind them of the monthly Chamber Meetings and worked countless hours answering the phones there. She further volunteered at the Council on Aging, and helped start the Historical Society.

1994

Pam Eakes was chosen this year because of her national activities for Mothers Against Violence in America (MAVIA). In the year that she started this organization, it had grown to 30 chapters across the state. This organization has grown nationally and has also created a school based group called Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE).

1995

The year that John Steding died, we realized that he had given many years of service to our community and that the Council had not yet recognized someone who was active in the schools. With this in mind, the Council posthumously awarded John Steding its Citizen of the Year. John was the keeper of the statistics for most sports at Mercer Island High School.

1996

Faye Whitney was honored for her 20 years of service to seniors and youth on Mercer Island. She had just completed Blossoms and Burgers, an event that partners the seniors at the Parks and Recreation Department with the Crest Learning Center. She helped start and run this event for many years. She also is active in the Council on Aging and Meals on Wheels program. She volunteered at the Mercer Island Thrift shop since 1978, raising funds for Youth and Family Services.

1997

Pat Braman was active for many years as a teacher and union activist. But her nomination came from a year of devoting personal time to bring the Youth Asset training to Mercer Island Schools. This program was part of another position she held as the City's only representative on the Community Network of Mid-East King County. These Networks were formed by the legislature to meet the challenge of increasing youth violence and teen pregnancy. Pat's work on both these projects took time and energy to find funds from the private sector and to advocate for people in the community to get trained to be more supportive of kids.

1998

The Clergy Association was chosen because the Council was so appreciative of their overwhelming support and advocacy for affordable housing. This group was not used to taking political or public stands and yet became a moving force in our community. Their support culminated in the purchase of Ellsworth House in 1999. They also had developed a chaplain support group for the Public Safety Department.

1999

For the second year in a row, the Citizen of the Year award went to a large group -- the Aircraft Noise Abatement Committee. This group of over 260 citizens vigilantly opposed operational and policy changes proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration that would cause increased aircraft noise over Mercer Island.

2000

Don Cohen received the 2000 Citizen of the Year award for his decade of service on the Mercer Island Planning Commission. Having served as its Chairman for four years, Don contributed to the development of many important pieces of land use legislation including the Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan, Critical Lands Ordinance, Mega-House Ordinance and the Unified Land Development Code. Don garnered respect for his experience, sense of fairness, environmental advocacy, leadership and legal knowledge.

2001

The 2001 Citizen of the Year was Eugene Ferguson. Eugene “Gene” Ferguson received the Council’s appreciation for his 25 years of service to the children and families of Mercer Island. As Band Director and long-time music educator, Eugene worked tirelessly to introduce music into the lives of thousands of Mercer Island students. He made great contributions to the success of the music program in the Mercer Island School District bringing it national, state and local acclaim.

2002

Jan Deveny was chosen as Citizen of the Year for 2002 in recognition of his 28 years of service as Mercer Island’s Public Safety Director. His law enforcement career spanned almost 40 years, during which he was President of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and active in the International Association of Chief of Police. He was a tireless supporter of Special Olympics, and co-founded the Washington Law Enforcement Torch Run.

2003

City Council members honored Myra Lupton for being an involved citizen in every sense of the word. She was complimented for being an independent thinker. Mayor Alan Merkle said. ``She is one person who has been able to praise and criticize in one breath, and we feel good about both.'' Ms. Lupton retired from teaching English in January 1992 after 31 years with the Bellevue School District. She has been active in numerous civic committees on Mercer Island, including the local chapter of the League of Women Voters.

2004

He’s been called the godfather of Puget Sound transportation and credited with coining the phrase “we don't want to hear it, see it or smell it” as a condition of Interstate 90's expansion across the Island. His colleagues have said that, “He's flunked retirement several times”, with a career in public service that has spanned six decades Aubrey Davis is honored with the 2004 Citizen of the Year Award.

Aubrey first moved to Mercer Island in 1960 and was elected to the Mercer Island City Council in 1968, remaining on the Council until 1978. He served as mayor for two terms from 1970 to 1973.  Throughout the years since leaving the Mercer Island City Council, he has headed the regional office of the U.S. Department of Transportation and has led the federal Urban Mass Transit Administration.

He served 32 years on the Group Health Board of Trustees, including eight terms as chair and in 1988, was named president and CEO of Group Health a position he held for four years.  Aubrey recently retired after serving more than 12 years on the Washington State Transportation Commission.

He’ll remain active on the transportation committee at the Puget Sound Regional Council and on the committee reviewing the options for replacement of the Highway 520 Bridge.  He also currently serves on the Citizens’ Oversight Panel monitoring Sound Transit.

2005

The City Council chose Ben Wolfe as the 2005 Citizen of the Year.  Ben was hired by the Mercer Island School District in 1963. For his first two years he taught French. In 1965 he was appointed as the Vice Principal of North Mercer Junior High. He worked in that position until 1980.

During his time at North Mercer Junior High, Ben was in charge of much of the disciplinary process, as the Vice Principal. He was a very stern administrator as far as following the rules and the law. Ben developed a very close working relationship with the police and fire departments during this time. His quick wit and outstanding personality were always a hit.

Ben used to refer to himself as the ”Captain of the North Precinct” because he felt as if he was the cop in the school for us at the Junior High School. Soon this nickname spread and Ben was proud of this nickname. Ben would call the department and say this is Captain Wolfe from the North Precinct and I have one in custody for you.

In 1980 Ben was appointed as the Director of Maintenance Operations for the Mercer Island School District.  He worked in this capacity until he retired in June of 1992. Ben had 36 total years of working in the field of education, 29 of which were with Mercer Island. Ben made several trips to Europe and enjoyed talking about his experiences there.

A good joke or war story usually started the meetings he attended serving as a citizen volunteer on the City’s Police and Fire Disability Board. Ben served 15 years, and was the Board Chairman for many years.

2006 

Longtime Mercer Island residents, Margaret and Kenneth Quarles were chosen as the 2006 Citizen of the Year for their generous and selfless contribution to the City’s park and open space system this year.  The Quarles’ were the owners of pristine open space located west of East Mercer Way and adjacent to Pioneer Park.  In 2006, the Quarles agreed to transfer this rare open space property consisting of nearly 7 acres to the City of Mercer Island in order to preserve this property for park and recreation purposes.

This significant gift to the City will serve as a lasting legacy to the family’s strong ties to the Mercer Island community and represents their strong desire to preserve the property from potential future development while providing recreational trail opportunities for future generations. 

2007

“Tonight we honor a fixture in our community who has been involved in almost everything for decades,” said Mayor Jim Pearman in naming Jim Trombold the 2007 Citizen of the Year on June 16, 2008. In addition to being a respected physician and Rotarian, Trombold was a community activist, environmentalist and defender of Mercer Island parks.

Jim was a Rotarian who served as president from 2005 to 2006, the chair of the Planet Earth committee, an avid lover and defender of the Mercer Island parks system. He fought to preserve and improve Mercerdale Park, including the establishment of a group native garden.  He helped set up the display of crosses at Mercerdale Field by Vietnam Veterans against the war in Iraq. In 2005-06, when he was president of MI Rotary, he helped expand support for the Half-Marathon to raise money for colon cancer awareness.

2008

The 2008 Citizen of the Year Award honors not one, but dozens of Island residents. On Monday, July 6, 2009 the Mercer Island City Council announced “the organizers and volunteers of the inaugural 2008 Mercer Island Farmers Market” as the much anticipated Citizen of the Year.

This group was recognized for their contributions to providing a vibrant community setting that offers fresh, locally grown foods, promotes and supports sustainable agriculture, and connects residents to each other and to local farmers.  The Mercer Island Farmers Market enables residents to purchase local food from local farmers and in doing so, contribute to the local economy.