School board member dies

Marty Best, the vice chairman of the Shelton School Board, died Nov. 20. He was 67.

The Shelton resident joined the board in 2021 and represented District 2. The board and the district mourned his death at the Nov. 22 meeting in the Mountain View Elementary School cafeteria and honored him with a moment of silence.

“Marty did a lot of work in public service, not just the school board,” said Superintendent Wyeth Jessee. Best was the administrative services manager for Grays Harbor Transit and president of Whirlwind Ministries Inc. He had been the assistant director of Mason County Division of Emergency Services.

“Marty pretty much worked 24 hours (a day),” Jessee said.

Best and his wife also ran a day care service.

“Marty lit up when he saw his day care kids go through graduation,” said Board President Keri Davidson.

The board mentioned Best’s help in being recognized as a Board of Distinction by the Washington State School Directors Association for the fifth consecutive year. The 2022 honor was announced at the Nov. 22 meeting.

Best was appointed to the five-member board in September 2021 to replace Lynn Eaton, who resigned that June after moving out of the director district. Best won a new term in the Nov. 2, 2021 general election, garnering 93.55% of the vote as the only candidate on the ballot.