Erwin Lee Mallernee

Erwin Lee Mallernee, age 79, of Darrington, WA, passed away on Sunday January 8, 2023 after suffering cardiac arrest. Erwin was born on August 31, 1943 in National City, CA to Vern and Ruth (Bailey) Mallernee. Erwin graduated as valedictorian from Golden Gate Academy in 1961, and then attended Pacific Union College in Angwin, California. Erwin graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology.

After college, Erwin became the caretaker for Camp Wawona in Yosemite National Park. He described this as his “dream job,” where he lived in the park, worked outside, and maintained everything. It was hard to give up that lifestyle when drafted by the US Army into the Vietnam War in 1966.

Erwin served as a medic in Vietnam and was stationed at the Dau Tieng fire support base during the Tet Offensive in 1968. Erwin rescued and treated many wounded soldiers from surrounding combat zones and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his military service.

Erwin was a pioneer in Loss Control and Risk Management, often creating new risk management departments for growing companies. He began his career with the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Insurance Services (Riverside, California), where he was a Loss Control Coordinator and became a Certified Safety Professional. Over his career, Erwin led the Risk Management Departments for Westin Hotels (Seattle, Washington), Richfield Hotel Management (Denver, Colorado), Wegmans Food Markets (Rochester, New York) and Starbucks (Seattle, Washington). Erwin retired from Starbucks on January 2, 2007.

Erwin enjoyed mentoring others throughout his career. Many people expressed similar sentiments in farewell notes and in condolence messages, including:

“Erwin was the most honest business man I have ever met.” - M.B.

“Erwin was the kindest man I ever knew.” - A.A.

“Erwin quite literally changed my life, and single-handedly created my career, so I pretty much owe him everything, and I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that way.” - S.S.

Erwin’s hobby was staying busy. He loved to “build things with his hands” and was always working on a project, planning a project, and thinking about his next project. His interests were many, including ham radio, welding, mountaineering, skiing, sailing, canoeing, cooking, motorcycling, rebuilding his Mustang and a Willys Jeep, milling his own trees into finished lumber, and remodeling and building houses. In addition to his projects, he never hesitated to help family and neighbors with their own projects.