Stanley H. Bassett of Washington passed away earlier in October.
He descends from William Bassett of Plymouth as follows:
William Bassett and wife Elizabeth
William Bassett (b. 1624) and wife Mary Raynesford
Nathan Bassett (b. 1667) and wife Mary Huckins
William Bassett (b. 1702) and Anna Mayhew
Fortunatus Bassett (b. 1742) and wife Sarah Bassett
Cornelius Bassett (b. 1778) and wife Elizabeth Holland Sawyer
James Lawrence Bassett (b. 1816) and wife Mary Jane Conrad
Cassius Mortimer Bassett (b. 1844) and wife Hannah Francis
Clifford Ashton Bassett (b. 1871) and wife Caroline Lee
Kenneth Mortimore Bassett (b. 1911) and wife Laura.
Stanley H. Bassett
Seattle Daily Times, Thursday, February 22, 1962
1962-Model ‘Stanley Steamer’: A delegate from each room at Thomas School near Kent visited Stanley Bassett yesterday morning to give him $140 raised by the school children to buy a new wheel chair for the youth, ten years a polio victim.
The March of Dimes and Children’s Orthopedic Hospital will miss an annual contribution this year. But that does not mean the children of Thomas School near Kent have forgotten.
The children decided to see for themselves this time how their dimes, nickels and pennies could light up the face of a former schoolmate – They collected $140 to buy a wheel chair for Stanley Bassett, 17.
In October, 1952, Stanley, then a second-grader at Thomas School, was stricken with polio. Each year since, the school has made a March of Dimes or Orthopedic Hospital contribution in Stanley’s name.
For two weeks or more in that October, Mrs. Myrtle C. Curry, principal, had been concerned over the little boy’s lackadaisical work in school. Then one weekend he had all the symptoms of flu.
By Monday morning it was diagnosed as polio.
A full year in the hospital followed. He has had eight major operations in the intervening ten years.
Despite all the interruptions, Stanley has almost kept up his school work. He is a sophomore at Kent-Meridian High School.
The well-worn wheel chair has not been a prison for Stanley.
Mrs. Curry, serving her last year at the school after 32 years of work there, recalls the teachers pulling the wheel chair up and down the stairs, and how Stan rolled himself out to the playground to participate in normal activities.
The youth’s mother, Mrs. Kenneth Bassett, tells how her son “drives” his chair on their 30 acre farm to shoot at ducks and to fish in the nearby Green River.
Mrs. Bassett, after nine years as her son’s chauffeur, has a measure of relief this year. Stanley’s friends drive him to school and on outings.
Stanley is studying vocational agriculture. He has one sheep as a project. Neighbors say he sometimes talks of one day taking over the family farm.
School, play, hunting and fishing have added many miles to the dilapidated old wheel chair. Mrs. Curry and the children of Thomas School, who never forget, decided it was time for a new “Stanley Steamer”.
The sold popcorn, peanuts and cookies. They saved their dimes, nickels and pennies.
And yesterday a delegate from each room went out to the Bassett farm and gave Stanley the money for his new set of wheels.
The Daily Record, Ellensburg, Washington, Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Public Servant and youth mentor Stan Bassett dies
Stan Bassett, former Ellensburg City Council member, mayor and longtime mentor and counselor to Ellensburg youths, died in the early morning hours Tuesday. He was 69.
Among his accomplishments, Bassett served on the Ellensburg City Council for 23 years, the longest term in office in the city’s history. He stood for re-election five times and never lost, and served as mayor twice.
Bassett was a Central Washington University graduate, with a degree in sociology and a minor in psychology. He first ran for Council in 1987 and was sworn in 1988.
In 1986, Bassett started working as director for Kittitas County Youth Services, and worked as a lunchroom supervisor at Morgan Middle School for more than 20 years.
Bassett, who was a polio and cancer survivor, was confined to a wheelchair since his childhood, and was able to move around thanks to metal rods embedded in his spine.
In 2010, the city declared May 3 Stan Bassett Day in honor of his life and service.
The Daily Record will publish service and memorial information as it becomes available.
The Daily Record, Ellensburg, Washington, Thursday, October 10, 2013
Stan Bassett – Hard to put in words what Bassett meant to people
To the Editor,
This morning, when I heard that Stan Bassett had passed away; I couldn’t even begin to put into words the impact he had on my life, as a person with a disability, as an advocate, as a professional, and how he steered me in a direction that I hope has had a trickle-down effect.
In the early 1980s Stan introduced to community to the concept of Independent Living Services, coordinated the Independent Lifestyle Services Swim Program, and under what was then the Kittitas County Action Council (KCAC).
That eventually became what is now Central Washington Disability Resources (CWDR), and Stan’s reach on the Board of Directors was far and wide until 2005, and each executive director and board member has been impacted by his vision and direction.
When speaking with a former board member earlier, I told him I never did thank Stan for changing the way I perceived myself as a person with a disability. Hopefully he realized that he played a big part in my achievements. Sometimes it is too big to put into a sentence. Some people can live until they are 100 and never give to a community what Stan gave to his.
Von Elison
executive director Central Washington Disability Resources, Ellensburg