BOOTH WHO? - Washington State Digital Archives

Who’s who (In order of appearance)
Robert Moore, Governor Booth Gardner’s great-great-great grandfather. He arrived in the
Oregon Country from Illinois in 1840 and played a key role in its emergence as a territory.
Manville S. Booth, the governor’s great-grandfather. He was elected King County auditor in
1874.
Laurence S. Booth, the governor’s grandfather. He helped save the King County Courthouse
in the great Seattle fire of 1889 and became president of the Washington Title Insurance Co.
Evelyn Booth Gardner Clapp, the governor’s mother; a former model and socialite.
Bryson Ross “Brick” Gardner, the governor’s father; sales manager for the Tacoma Cadillac
dealer.
William Booth Gardner, born August 21, 1936; Washington’s 19 th governor.
Gail Gardner, the governor’s sister (Gardner’s daughter is named in her honor.)
Norton Clapp, president of the Weyerhaeuser Company and the governor’s powerful
stepfather.
Mildred “Millie” Blethen Gardner, the governor’s stepmother.
Joan Blethen, the governor’s stepsister. They bonded in a household punctuated by
dysfunction.
Isaac Thomas, the African American man who befriended young Booth Gardner and
coached the neighborhood kids.
Stephen Merrill, the childhood friend who accompanied Booth and his mother on a fateful
ski trip in 1951.
Laird Harris, Booth’s policy adviser when he was governor and good friend.
Lou Booth, the governor’s beloved aunt, with whom he lived while attending the University
of Washington.
Emory Bundy, student body president at the UW (1957-58) when Booth was first vice
president.
Katie Dolan, a tireless activist for the disabled whom Booth first met on the playfields of
Seattle’s Central Area.
O.L. Mitchell, a Seattle Central Area volunteer who inspired Booth.