William Daniel Street III – Capt. Dan, “The Rope Man” – breathed his last around a quarter to three on Friday afternoon, September 2. Almost 96, he had experienced increasing health difficulties since a stroke in May of 2007. Home sessions in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber had enhanced his comfort and function and prevented pneumonia. The last ten months of his life, Capt. Dan took nutrition through a PEG tube.

Born in Lewistown, Montana, to W. D. Street II and Neva “Streetie” Anderson Street, Dan grew up mostly in California, living for a time in a tent in Los Angeles. The first W. D. Street had been a notorious buffalo hunter and Indian scout who had become a Kansas State Senator and the editor of the Oberlin Herald newspaper.

Capt. Dan volunteered at the Water Festival and for schools and Cub Scouts for ten or fifteen years before his illness. He designed a rope-making device similar to one he had observed in the maritime museum in Astoria, Oregon. Children waited in line to help make rope, and they valued the lengths of rope they kept as a reward. Dan worked like the Eveready Rabbit, stringing seisel, coaching the youthful rope-makers, and whacking the completed lengths apart with a colorful machete.

Dan also served Eleanor River for a number of years at her sheep ranch on Hastie Lake Road. One comical incident occurred when a sheep ran between his legs in a corral and he had to ride it backwards around and around until Eleanor extended her hand for him to grasp so that he could dismount. Eleanor has expressed her profound gratitude and love for his many works on her ranch.

Prior to that, he lived a long, varied list of careers, beginning as kitchen boy at La Venta Inn at Redondo Beach, California. He shelled a lot of peas, grown in the garden there, and shot a lot of rabbits that preyed on the garden. Most notable among the careers were his many years as captain of rich people’s yachts. He considered the construction management of the Dragon Lady IV to be his crowning achievement. The Dragon Lady III was purchased by Jack Tibbets and renamed the Nora. After Dan “retired” to Whidbey Island, he worked a number of years for Nora and Jack, who raised Scottish Highlander and Limousin cattle.

Gladys (“Happy”) Roberts Street preceded Dan in death in 1988, after 52 years of marriage. Daughter Jean Irene Gerth lives with her husband Fred in Palm Desert, California. Dan’s granddaughter, Julie Christensen, and her adult children live in Oak Harbor. His grandson, Scott Gerth, has lived in Sultan, and Scott’s children, adult and younger, are scattered, along with several of Dan’s great-great-grandchildren. Happy’s vivacious sister, Annie Harbuck, 90, lives in Redondo Beach, California. Dan’s brother’s elegant widow, Marian Street Johnston, lives with her husband Charles in Ellensburg. Her sons Warren (with wife Elizabeth) and John (with wife Allison), Dan’s beloved nephews, also reside in Ellensburg.

Dan’s second wife, Lorena Jane Lewis Street, somewhat younger, compiled his recordings of adventures on the various boats throughout the 23 years that he and Happy lived on board. James Bruner edited the result, Streets on the Water, and the book may soon be published in hard copy. Lorena cared for Capt. Dan with enormous devotion during his final years. Lorena’s two adult children, John Bassham and Cynthia Vance, enjoyed happy relationships with Dan throughout the 21 ½ years that he and Lorena were together.

Whidbey Memorial Services is providing most kindly expertise. The Oak Harbor Seventh-day Adventist Church will hold a service on Saturday, September 17, at 1:30 p.m. If you knew Capt. Dan, your presence would be greatly appreciated. Family and friends are encouraged to share memories and offer condolences at www.whidbeymemorial.com.

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