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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Political Conciliator Succumbs Steven County Leader Allan Mack Dies At 61

Stevens County Commissioner Allan Mack, a political consensus builder, died Friday.

Mack, 61, succumbed to a kidney ailment.

Mack was mourned by political leaders throughout the region on Saturday. The county’s two other commissioners could not be reached.

“This wonderful man was truly civil,” said Gary Lowe, executive director of the Washington State Association of Counties. “He lit candles; he never cursed the dark.”

Mack was vice president of the association.

Stevens County’s Democratic auditor, Tim Gray, said he was rooting for the Republican commissioner to be re-elected to a third four-year term this fall.

“He’s not a guy that worries a lot about party politics,” Gray said. “He worries more about Stevens County and his voters.”

Ferry County Commissioner Gary Kohler said Mack’s leadership will “sorely be missed” on the boards of agencies shared by Stevens, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties.

Mack was largely responsible for pulling together a coalition of Eastern Washington counties to build a regional juvenile detention center at Medical Lake, Wash.

Mack and other commissioners joined the state growth management program only when it became apparent that population growth would soon force the county to join - after state money for member counties dried up.

Active in the First Baptist Church in Colville, Mack quietly applied the principles of his faith to his political decisions as well as his private life.

Mack graduated from high school in Colorado and worked in electronics for General Dynamics before coming to Stevens County in 1967. He ranched for nine years, co-founded a company that made post-driving machines and then sold real estate until 1988.

He also was an auctioneer, and frequently donated his service for charitable projects.

, DataTimes