High School / College

Graduate, Lakeside School, Seattle, WA, 1945.

B.Arch., University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Seattle, WA, c. 1951.

M.Arch., University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, CA, 1954.

Relocation

Charles Harrington Schiff was born in Seattle and spent his entire life and career here.

He and his first wife Betsy designed and built a residence in Bellevue, WA, where they raised their three daughters.

In his last years, he lived at the Brookwood House, Incorporated, in Bellevue.

Spouse

Charles Schiff married twice. He first married Betsy Taylor on 08/27/1955, and they remained together until her death in 1996.

He then wed Janet Suyetsugu in 1998, who survived him.

Children

He and Betsy had three daughters: Barbara Schiff Hole, Karin Schiff Thwaits, and Brenda Schiff Hisey.

With Janet, he was involved in the lives of four stepchildren: Amy Suyetsugu Vaziri, Carol Suyetsugu Gunn, Fraser Suyetsugu and Maria Suyetsugu Harris.

Biographical Notes

According to his obituary, Charles had many hobbies: "Chas enjoyed drawing, tennis, skiing, hiking, and traveling, but his true passion was sailing and racing. He had several sailboats and his true love was Meridian, the sailboat he designed for racing. She won Swifsure twice with Chas at the helm." (See Seattle Times.com, "Charles Harrington Schiff, April 24, 1927 - December 24,2022," published 01/29/2023, accessed 01/30/2023.)

As a boy, Charles Schiff enjoyed attending the4-Winds Camp on Orcas Island, WA. These San Juan Islands camps taught young people valuable outdoors skills and provided fthem ormative socializing opportunities. Another of these important camps was Camp Nor'wester.