Appreciations & Remembrances

George Fleming passes on: He ran wild in the Rose Bowl, later served twenty years as a sturdy, progressive state legislator for Seattle

George Flem­ing was an explo­sive half­back when the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton humil­i­at­ed the Big Ten in the 1960 and 1961 Rose Bowl games, and went on to become a stur­dy, con­struc­tive polit­i­cal play­er in the Wash­ing­ton State Leg­is­la­ture for more than two decades.

George Flem­ing was a well known Husky foot­ball play­er who helped car­ry the team to vic­to­ry in the Rose Bowl (Pho­to cour­tesy of the Flem­ing family)

The death of Flem­ing at eighty-three has evoked Baby Boomer mem­o­ries of when the Dawgs upset favored foes two New Year’s Days in a row, and of the first African-Amer­i­can to serve in the State Sen­ate and cham­pi­on of such caus­es as the Mar­tin Luther King holiday.

“George Flem­ing was one of my child­hood heroes scor­ing touch­downs in the Rose Bowl as a Wash­ing­ton Husky, and he was a hero to me in adult­hood as he became a tire­less pub­lic ser­vant in the Leg­is­la­ture,” Gov­er­nor Jay Inslee said in a statement.

Seattle’s May­or-elect Bruce Har­rell, a for­mer Husky line­backer, added: “He nev­er hes­i­tat­ed to help me, advise me and inspire me.”

As a boy grow­ing up in Dal­las, Flem­ing had dreamed of play­ing in the Rose Bowl for UCLA, USC or Ohio State. As Dan Raley wrote in the Seat­tle Post-Intel­li­gencer: “The Bru­ins checked out Flem­ing first, urged the all-state run­ning back to spend a sea­son at East Lost Ange­les Junior Col­lege and lost inter­est when he was injured. Wash­ing­ton, a school not at all famil­iar to him, offered a place to land.”

Life was ini­tial­ly dif­fi­cult at Mont­lake, as the Dawgs went 3–7 and Flem­ing endured the Coach Jim Owens school of hard knocks.

The hard­est knocks were endured by Black ath­letes. But a 10–1 sea­son fol­lowed, cul­mi­nat­ing with a 44–8 blowout of favored Wis­con­sin in the Rose Bowl.

Flem­ing was named co-MVP in a game where he returned a punt 53 yards of a touch­down, ran back anoth­er 55 yards and caught a 65-yard pass from QB Bob Schloredt. He would set a record with a 44-yard field goal a year lat­er when the Huskies beat Min­neso­ta 17–7.

Flem­ing earned a busi­ness degree from the UW. After a brief career in pro foot­ball – he played for the Toron­to Arg­onauts and Win­nipeg Blue Bombers – he came home. Flem­ing worked for Pacif­ic North­west Bell, and in 1968 won elec­tion to the state House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives from Cen­tral Seattle’s 37th District.

Two years lat­er, he began a twen­ty-year tenure in the State Senate.

“I was one of those who tried to bring peo­ple togeth­er rather than push them apart,” Flem­ing would recall to Raley years later.

Flem­ing was a friend and mod­el to young Baby Boomers elect­ed to the Leg­is­la­ture, notably two who went on to high­er office.

George Flem­ing served as a state rep­re­sen­ta­tive and state sen­a­tor for two decades (Pho­to cour­tesy of the Flem­ing family)

“George Flem­ing was a close men­tor and a once-in-a-gen­er­a­tion kind of leader,” said U.S. Sen­a­tor Pat­ty Mur­ray, whose first two years as a state sen­a­tor over­lapped with the end of Fleming’s tenure. “He touched so many lives and he will be missed by so many – includ­ing me.”

A young bud­get writer in the state House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives, future Gov­er­nor Gary Locke, said in a state­ment: “George Flem­ing has always been my hero – from my child­hood days lis­ten­ing on the radio to his record-break­ing exploits in the Rose Bowl to our years togeth­er in the Legislature.

“He was a trail­blaz­ing leader of civ­il rights and was the con­science of the Leg­is­la­ture. He gave voice and pow­er to the for­got­ten and over­looked, every­day work­ing people.”

Oth­er fond mem­o­ries were offered by Seat­tle May­or Jen­ny Durkan.

Flem­ing was part of a State Sen­ate group, orga­nized by her father Sen­a­tor “Big Mar­tin” Durkan, that in the ear­ly 1970s oust­ed and took con­trol away from the musty Demo­c­ra­t­ic lead­er­ship of the Legislature’s upper chamber.

He “broke so many bar­ri­ers,” the may­or added.

Flem­ing went on to work for Seat­tle Pub­lic Schools and lat­er King Coun­ty gov­ern­ment. “He fought yard to build a more inclu­sive com­mu­ni­ty for all,” said UW Pres­i­dent Ana Mari Cauce. He will be missed but his lega­cy lives on all through­out the Wash­ing­ton com­mu­ni­ty and across our state.”

Flem­ing was induct­ed into the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton Hall of Fame in 1980, named a Husky Leg­end in 1998, and induct­ed into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2012. He is sur­vived by Tina, his wife of fifty-four years, daugh­ters Son­ja and Yerni, and five grandkids.

Joel Connelly

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Joel Connelly

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