July 5, 1934 - May 27, 2015
Lou grew up in Blaine, WA, the son of William E. Eddy and Dorothy Montfort, and a brother to Bill Eddy. He was raised in the home of his grandfather, whom he dearly loved. His grandfather, Louis DeMontfort Montfort, owned Blaine’s feed store in the early 1900’s. (Gilday and Montfort), and often loaded his customers trucks, carrying pairs of hundred-pound sacks of grain; one on each shoulder. However, Lou was proudest of the customers his grandfather carried financially through the depression, saving many Whatcom County farms. Lou was a brilliant student who played football and acted in plays at Blaine and Hill Military Academy in Oregon.
Lou graduated from Seattle University in the late 50’s and in the early 60’s worked as a chemical engineer at Rocketdyne in L.A. He helped design the fuel pumping system for the Saturn 5 rocket engine, which took man to the moon. He worked with and was directly supervised by Wernher von Braun, the head of the U.S. space program. Louis D. Eddy was truly a rocket scientist.
After the moon project, Lou worked as a Boeing engineer and then in 1971 came to White Pass High School to teach science and math. For his students, Lou wrote one of the first educational computer programming manuals in Washington state. Lou inspired his students to think deeply about our universe. Many of his students remained friends long after he left WPHS. In retirement, Lou continued as a regular volunteer for physics classes where students would cheer when he entered the classroom. He also enjoyed golfing, watching football and visiting with friends.
Lou was a kind, gentle, and most of all, intelligent man with a great sense of humor and a huge heart. He will be greatly missed by his long-time friends, the Mullenix family, and the Sharp family, his cousins Judi Holley, Katy Montfort, Kelly Montfort, Jan Puntillo, and Don Montfort, his students, colleagues and neighbors. A celebration of his life will occur in Randle, WA at a later date.
