Longtime Port of Olympia commissioner Bob VanSchoorl dies at 74
Bob VanSchoorl, who served 14 years on the Port of Olympia commission and had a hand in bringing Olympia Farmers Market to its current site and developing the Port Plaza, died Thursday at home. He was 74.
His wife, Meg, said Sunday that he died as a result of a rare and aggressive form of cancer after a recent diagnosis.
VanSchoorl was appointed to the port commission in 1994 after former Commissioner Sam Bradley stepped down.
Current port commissioner Bill McGregor both worked for VanSchoorl when he was director of operations for the port and later worked alongside him as a commissioner after former Commissioner Steve Pottle resigned.
McGregor recalled VanSchoorl Sunday as a “gentleman” who was “fair and took in all sides before he made a decision.”
“I appreciated his mentoring,” McGregor said Sunday.
Current port commissioner Joe Downing said he and his wife, Myra, knew him best through the Olympia Yacht Club, where VanSchoorl served two terms as board chairman at the yacht club.
“Bob was a personal friend of ours,” he said.
Downing also said VanSchoorl mentored him when he became a commissioner, giving him advice on how to approach decisions and the importance of building partnerships with government and citizens.
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” Downing recalled VanSchoorl telling him. “But if you keep plugging away at what you believe, change happens.”
VanSchoorl lost his seat on the commission to George Barner in 2007.
Robert Alan VanSchoorl was born March 6, 1947. He was a competitive swimmer in high school and later did the same at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. He was a student body president, a fraternity president and joined ROTC, which led to a career in the Army, both active duty and reserves. He retired Lt. Col. VanSchoorl, his wife said.
He also earned a graduate degree at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.
He came to Olympia in the early 1980s where he embarked on a second career in local and state government, working for the state Department of Licensing, the Thurston County Auditor’s Office, the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Enterprise Services, where he was chief financial officer from 2010-2013.
“Leadership and community service were really a big thing for him,” Meg VanSchoorl said.
Longtime port employee Jeri Sevier, who spent 24 years at the port, including as administrative services director, said Sunday she highly admired VanSchoorl.
“He always had a calmness about him and a leadership style that produced results and respect,” she said. “I was proud to be a port employee under his leadership.”
In addition to his wife, Meg, VanSchoorl is survived by three daughters, four grandchildren, and a brother and sister in Spokane.
A celebration of life is planned, but probably not until next year, Meg said.
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
