Carolyn Dimmick Final PDF.indd - Washington Secretary of State

it of that in him. But he was the easiest of parents.
Hughes: As opposed to mom?
Dimmick: Yes. (laughing)
Hughes: Were there other siblings?
Dimmick: I had one brother, Raymond.
Hughes: Older or younger?
Dimmick: He was older. He was a chemical engineer who got his degree from the
University of Washington. But he died of cancer some time ago.
Hughes: Tell us about your mother.
Dimmick: Well, my mother, Margaret Taylor Reaber, was terribly English, very proper,
very bright, and expected a lot from us. One time she said to my brother and me, “Both
of my children are misfits.” She said, “Carolyn, you are too social. Raymond, you are too
studious.” And she added, “Neither one of you can spell.” And we both said, “Well, we’re
going to have secretaries.” (laughter)
Hughes: What a great comeback.
Dimmick: And we did! We both had secretaries.
Hughes: Were you always called Carolyn as a girl?
Dimmick: Yes.
Hughes: No nicknames?
Dimmick: That was it.
Hughes: So mom is a highly educated lady. How does she meet the Danish ship captain?
Dimmick: On the ship, when she was 20 going up to Nome, Alaska. She met him going up
and then when the ice broke and she was coming down at the end of the year, he brought
her ship back down. Then he asked her out, and they went dancing and swimming around
here.
Hughes: Sort of the Titanic, where you’ve got Leonardo meeting Kate — but with a lot
happier ending. What was your mom doing going to Alaska?
Dimmick: She was teaching school in Nome. She’d grown up here in Seattle, and her first
teaching job was in Toppenish, Washington. And then she went to Nome.
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