Byron Gene Strange

Byron Gene Strange passed away peacefully at home on February 16, 2017, at the age of 89. He was born in Jefferson, Kansas on February 1, 1928, to Bud and Blanche Strange. He was the oldest of 4 children. Byron served in the United States Army based in Leavenworth Kansas. Following his honorable discharge he returned to Lawrence, Kansas, and attended the University of Kansas to study Geography. He married his high school sweetheart, Jessimai Strange, who was also attending KU working on a journalism degree.Following the completion of his studies he moved to Topeka, Kansas, and built the first Drive-In restaurant followed by another location several years later. In 1963, Byron became involved in Pizza Hut Inc. and decided to buy into a franchise and started Pizza Hut of Arizona with several partners. In 1967 he moved his family to Seattle, Washington to begin another Pizza Hut franchise in Washington State. Over 55 years as a Franchisee owner for Pizza Hut he built and grew Pizza Hut in Eastern Washington, Western Washington, Arizona, California and Nevada.Byron and Jessimai loved to travel and saw may beautiful places around the globe; Ireland, France, England, Denmark, Russia, China, Africa, Alaska, New Zealand and Australia to name a few. He and Jessimai collected many artifacts from their travels and made many friends that they maintained contact with throughout the years. Their house in Seattle was always bustling with visitors from near and far. Byron was a great supporter of the Seattle Mariners, the Seattle Seahawks and the University of Washington athletic program. He loved his sports! He was also very involved in Arts supporting Seattle Art Museum, 5 th Avenue Theatre, ACT Theatre, Seattle Symphony, Driftwood Players Theatre and many more.Byron was admired and loved by many for his caring and generous spirit of all humankind. He always went out of his way to learn about each individual he crossed paths with throughout his life, and loved to hear their life stories. Byron is survived by his daughter Joan Vaughn (Ken), son-in-law Steven Cobb (Jan), sister Joyce Watts (Don), and brother Ira Strange. He is also survived by 3 grandchildren, Heather Cobb (Casey), Nick Vaughn (Diana) and Jill Vaughn (Jose Carpio); and 6 great grandchildren, Alexandra, Michel, Jared, Juliet, London and Brooklyn.He is pre-deceased by his wife Jessimai (2011), daughter Jan Cobb (2017) and brother Robert Strange (2005).A memorial service will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, March 4, 2017, at Edmonds Yacht Club (326 Admiral Way, Edmonds, WA 98020). Interment will be at Holyrood Cemetery alongside his lifelong wife and partner, Jessimai. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to a charity of your choice. Some of Byrons favorites are Sisters of Holy Names (Spokane), University of Washington Foster Business School Scholarship Program and Seattle Art Museum.