DR. MACLAY ARMSTRONG, ORTHODONTICS CLASS OF 1962
Dr. Maclay “Mac” Armstrong peacefully passed away at home on Oct. 20, 2020, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 88.
He was born on Jan. 23, 1932 in Ottawa, Ill., to John and Vera Armstrong. During his years at Ottawa High School, he enjoyed a successful basketball career and helped the team compete at State. He spent his summers in Illinois learning the value of hard work on his family’s farms.
After graduating from high school, he spent one year at Beloit College in Wisconsin, earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa, and graduated from its dental school in 1958. He was a lifelong Iowa Hawkeye. He then spent several years as a Navy dentist at Camp Pendleton in California, where, legend has it, he became the badminton champion.
Enamored with the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, Dr. Armstrong set up a thriving orthodontic practice in north Seattle (now Shoreline) and was an innovator in orthodontics. Over his career he obtained 14 patents that helped shape the practice of orthodontics and patient care. In the late 1960s, he started Northwest Orthodontics (NWO), which manufactured and distributed his products internationally. He developed many orthodontic devices, including Saif Springs and a debracketing instrument. His breakaway headgear module is universally used today. He also published several articles in journals and was a frequent guest lecturer. He retired in 1986.
Dr. Armstrong loved boating and sport fishing on Puget Sound and the Long Beach peninsula and skiing with friends and family. His love of theater, symphony, opera, and music of all styles was woven throughout his life.
Dr. Armstrong is survived by his children, Jeff, Cindy (Mark) Murdzia, Aaron (Kylinn), and McKenzie; grandchildren Sam Armstrong, Zach and Taryn Murdzia, and Asher Armstrong and Victoria Armstrong; and great-grandson Austin Armstrong. (Seattle Times)
DR. EDWIN P. WERLICH, CLASS OF 1953, ORTHODONTICS CLASS OF 1962
A celebration of the life of Dr. Edwin P. Werlich was held on March 20, 2016 at the Everett Golf and Country Club. He was 90.
Dr. Werlich was born on July 12, 1925 in Everett, Wash. The family moved to Seattle in 1932 and he graduated from Ballard High School in 1943. During his senior year, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy’s V-12 (a) Program. After a year at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, he began the flight program and was finishing flight training at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas when WWII ended. He elected discharge and enrolled at the UW, receiving his DDS in 1953.
While in dental school, he met a nurse named Pauline Phillips and they later married. When they opened their private practice in Port Angeles, Wash., she was the receptionist, chairside assistant and financial officer. They were blessed with two daughters, Amy Werlich and Jean (Jonathan) Way, plus two very special granddaughters, Maggie and Abby.
Dr. Werlich opened his practice in Everett in 1962 and retired in 1992. While in Port Angeles, he discovered steelhead fishing and became addicted. He acquired a U.S. Air Force life raft and converted it for fishing the Sol Duc, Bogachiel and Hon rivers on the Olympic Peninsula and the Sauk river near Darrington, Wash. This led to a fishing cabin on the Stillaguamish River. Dr. Werlich caddied and worked in various capacities at the (now closed) Olympic Golf Club in north Ballard. He cherished the game and his golfing friendships.
The Werlichs enjoyed retirement with trips to their cabin, North Carolina, the Bahamas, Europe and New Zealand. He expressed the wish that all could have as fulfilling a life as he had been privileged to live and hoped they shared an appreciation for great meatloaf and hamburgers. (Legacy.com)