Longtime Gig Harbor mayor, teacher Gretchen Wilbert dies

Gretchen Wilbert was a Olympia High School graduate born into an established Tacoma political family.

She became one of the defining personalities of Gig Harbor, where she lived for more than 60 years. She taught kindergarten in her first career, served as elected mayor for 16 years and led groups such as the Gig Harbor Lions Club well into her retirement.

Wilbert, who helped transform a sleepy Croatian fishing village into a suburban city that retained its charm, died Sunday surrounded by family. She was 87.

How Gig Harbor looks in the year 2015 can be attributed in large part to Wilbert’s leadership, said Mark Hoppen, former City Council member and city administrator under Wilbert’s tenure.

When she was elected mayor in 1989, there were no sidewalks, few places to shop and only one park, Hoppen said. In her tenure, the city’s open space inventory grew to 17 parks, pedestrian connections were improved, and the north and south ends of the city were anchored with shopping centers.

“To a large extent, the way Gig Harbor looks or functions and the amenities it has has a lot to do with (her) vision,” Hoppen said. “She was always concerned about improving the quality of life and the residential character of Gig Harbor.”

Hoppen said it was obvious she respected and loved her time leading the city.

“It’s no accident that when she retired and got older, she carried around little cards that said she was the former mayor,” he said.

With growth also come growing pains, and Wilbert wasn’t immune to adversity while in office.

Shortly after becoming mayor, she forced the city administrator to resign, prompting the City Council to look at restructuring the elected position. In 1991, the council asked voters to decide whether to reduce the mayor’s powers and switch to a council-manager system, which would have left Wilbert a figurehead.

Voters stuck with the status quo.

“She was a very strong woman,” said current City Administrator Ron Williams, whose previous work as mayor of University Place crossed over with Wilbert’s tenure in Gig Harbor. “She knew what she wanted; she was a strong advocate for Gig Harbor.”

Wilbert wasn’t a stranger to politics when elected. She was the fourth member of her immediate family to hold public office.

Her father, Thomas A. Swayze, was elected comptroller for the city of Tacoma in the 1930s. Her mother, Frances Swayze, was a 26th District state representative from 1952 to 1965. Her brother, Thomas A. Swayze Jr., was a Pierce County Superior Court judge and was appointed to fill his mother’s position in Olympia.

Wilbert’s dedication to Gig Harbor continued after she decided not to seek a fifth term.

Some of her projects were successful, including her advocacy for a trolley service. Others didn’t reach fruition.

Wilbert pushed to have an ice skating rink developed in the city in honor of Gig Harbor native Crystal Judson and other domestic violence victims.

She hoped to see the rink covered by the stained glass dome of Tacoma’s historic First United Methodist Church. After the church was demolished in 2006, she helped save the dome, which was put in storage. The ice rink idea was never completed.

Another project Wilbert championed was to make “Under a Gig Harbor Moon” the official song of the city. She would hand out CDs with the song, said Police Chief Kelly Busey. The city still doesn’t have a theme song, at least not yet.

“She was a very kind lady who genuinely loved Gig Harbor. That was always her interest,” said Busey, who was a police officer during half of Wilbert’s time as mayor.

Pausing to recognize Wilbert Monday, Mayor Jill Guernsey reflected on her influence in the Harbor.

“She was a very special person. She taught us all to be better,” Guernsey said in a prepared statement.

For many Gig Harbor families, Wilbert is perhaps best known for her work as a teacher.

She was instrumental in getting a kindergarten program established in the Peninsula School District, said Carol McGinness, who taught kindergarten alongside Wilbert at Artondale Elementary for several years. Wilbert was already at the school when McGinness arrived in 1979.

McGinness said Wilbert was a “dynamic” teacher who loved her work. In an era when kindergarten teachers did it all, Wilbert designed two classrooms and wrote her own curriculum with passion and creativity, McGinness said.

“She was such a master teacher,” McGinness said. “She touched so many lives.”

Wilbert is survived by her three children and four grandchildren. Her husband of 47 years, Bill Wilbert, died in 1998.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Longtime Gig Harbor mayor, teacher Gretchen Wilbert dies."