Merlin R. “Boody” Gilbertson, the last surviving member of the 1940 Everett High School state championship basketball team, died Saturday of pneumonia at the Colby Campus of Everett’s Providence Regional Medical Center. He was 92.
In the 1939-40 season, under the guidance of 27-year-old head coach Jim Ennis, the Seagulls put together a remarkable 29-0 record. The team, with Gilbertson as one of its starting forwards, breezed through the regular season and then through the state tournament, winning four games by a combined score of 200-75, including a 64-19 victory over Oakville in the title game.
Gilbertson went on to the University of Washington, where he played basketball and baseball, though his years at Washington were interrupted by time he spent in the Army during World War II. He later had a brief professional career in baseball as a shortstop.
“(Sports) were very important to him,” said LeAnne Gilbertson, his daughter. “That was really who he was. And that’s where his circle of friends was, too.”
Likewise, being a part of the state championship team at Everett was always a precious memory.
“Dad wasn’t braggadocios around us kids at all, but I think that was really cool for him,” LeAnne Gilbertson said. “I think he was so grateful to be on that team. And the other players on that team he stayed lifelong friends with.”
After playing pro baseball, Gilbertson returned to Snohomish County and had a long career as a certified public accountant in downtown Everett. He and his wife Beverly, who died in 2013, owned a home on Lake Stevens, where they raised their four children.
He retired in the late 1970s, though he stayed active in his later years with various sport and civic activities, including a close involvement with the Lion’s Club. He was also an avid fan of UW football, often attending the team’s home games.
There is, however, one big mystery about Gilbertson’s life. No one could ever explain with certainty where the nickname “Boody” came from, including Gilbertson himself.
But it was given to him at age 2 and the best guess, LeAnne Gilbertson said, is that it was bestowed by a neighboring farmer at the family’s rural Wisconsin home. Except the farmer, when questioned about the matter years later, did not recall giving the nickname, and neither does anyone know what the name meant.
As a result, LeAnne Gilbertson said, “the mystery has never been solved. And Dad gave up trying to explain it.”
In addition to his daughter LeAnne, Gilbertson is survived by daughters Gayle Gilbertson and Dawn Steinruck (husband Jim), and son Brooks Gilbertson (wife Gracia), and by several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Information about a memorial service will be announced at a later date.
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