Flags remain at half-staff for Gov. Roselinni

Flags at Washington State agency facilities will remain at half-staff until late Tuesday afternoon, October 18, following the burial of Governor Rosellini, or first thing Wednesday morning, October 19.

It is with deep sadness that Governor Chris Gregoire directs flags at all state agency facilities to half-staff in memory of former Governor Albert D. Rosellini who passed away Monday at the age of 101.

Other government entities, citizens and businesses are encouraged to join this recognition.

The Seattle Times wrote an article summarizing his career:

Gov. Rosellini's first term as governor has been praised as one of the most effective and progressive in state history.

In particular, he was credited with improving nightmarish conditions in state prisons, mental hospitals and juvenile homes.

"He brought the institutions into the modern era," said Smith, the biographer. "They were languishing in a situation where they were almost like they would have been in the Civil War."

At the time, some inmates still were bound in manacles and housed in cells with buckets for toilets. Gov. Rosellini fought for more modern facilities, training for staff, jobs for inmates and forestry camps for low-risk offenders.

Gov. Rosellini also overcame political opposition and daunting funding problems to build a second bridge across Lake Washington. The Highway 520 floating bridge opened in 1960, coming in under budget. The bridge was officially renamed in his honor in 1988.

And Gov. Rosellini worked to support the UW Medical Center, whose creation he'd proposed as a state legislator. As a New Deal Democrat, he believed strongly in public education.