Now All 6 Can Claim Eagle Scout

Glenn and Joan Passey offered their six boys a little extra incentive to earn their Eagle Scout awards.

They told them their driver’s licenses depended on it.

All are now driving.

Eighteen-year-old Travis Passey, the youngest of the brothers and the last of the lot to receive his Eagle Scout Award, was honored at a ceremony Saturday night in Cheney.

“It was just tradition,” he said.

David, 33, Allan, 31, Nathan, 27, Ryan, 24, and Jared, 23, preceded Travis.

“This has got to be some sort of a record,” said Mark Bickley, a member of the Chinook District Award Review committee who presented all six with their awards. “The dad set the pattern for the first son and the rest followed it.”

Travis’ father, Glenn, is a former commander of the survival school at Fairchild Air Force Base. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel after serving 27 years.

Ironically, Glenn never got his Eagle Scout, which he regrets. Although Glenn did earn the Explorer Scout’s Silver Award, which he said is equivalent.

“That’s probably why these guys got it - because I didn’t,” Glenn said. “I missed it by one badge.”

No one was there to push Glenn to finish. That’s why Glenn encouraged his boys, says his wife, Joan.

Through scouting activities, the boys developed a particularly strong friendship and spent hours playing together, she said.

That bond came in handy during the 25 moves the family made before Glenn retired about seven years ago.

“I’ve always said they are each other’s best friends,” Joan said.

As the older boys gradually achieved Eagle Scout, they joined their father in pushing the next through the program.

David earned his Eagle Scout by age 14, the quickest of the bunch.

Travis was the procrastinator. For his project, Travis organized a group that made and sold miniature wooden wells. The proceeds went toward buying scouting manuals for the Cheney and Spokane public libraries.

Now there are no more boys left to push. Only Travis’ 12-year-old sister, Sheri.

But being the youngest of the boys does have its merits.

“I actually cheated and got my license a little early,” Travis admitted. He has been driving since last winter.

“We didn’t have anybody else to drive a car and run errands,” Glenn explained.

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