Teacher, community activist Frank Yuse dies

Frank Yuse was dedicated to many things during his 77 years in Spokane, from teaching the literary classics to high school students to planning reasonable growth to redesigning the nation’s health care system.

“He was very intense, very committed to whatever project he had going at the time,” long-time friend Ken Pelo said of the Spokane native, who died this week of complications from recent heart surgery. “He wasn’t afraid to stand up and speak out on things he felt strongly about.”

The retired Shadle Park High School teacher felt strongly about literature, and in the early 1970s developed a special humanities honors class for seniors that earned them college credit for a rigorous curriculum that blended literature, history and philosophy.

“He had a love of learning, and really loved what he was teaching,” recalled Evan Bell, who taught the history portion of the class. Students spent part of each week in small seminars, and “we had some great arguments and discussions.”

Active in the local Democratic Party for many years, Yuse sometimes brought in then-Rep. Tom Foley, one of the party’s rising stars – and one of his former Gonzaga Prep classmates – to talk to his Shadle Park students.

He taught English and Latin, and eventually was chairman of the English and Foreign Language Department and the school’s tennis coach. He had articles published on topics ranging from religion and politics to land use and health care.

Yuse felt strongly about local politics, and ran twice for the Legislature and twice for City Council.

While he never won, some of his stances suggest he may have been ahead of his time. In his first run for the state House of Representatives in 1968, he called for an end to the Maple Street Bridge toll, a presidential preference primary in Washington and voting rights for 18-year-olds. He was later appointed to the Spokane County Planning Commission, where he served for five years overseeing growth in the county’s unincorporated areas.

Joanne Austin, a fellow Democrat, said Yuse had a way of working with people.

“He could talk to people, I think because he was so friendly,” Austin said.

Yuse also felt strongly about the local Roman Catholic Church.

He attended a seminary and spent five years in a monastery before deciding his true calling was a teacher. After he retired from Shadle Park in 1982, he worked for Catholic Charities as the liaison between the Spokane diocese and its 81 parishes.

Donna Hanson, director of Catholic Charities, described Yuse as someone “committed to peace and justice work” who took on the job of matching the needs and abilities of the individual parishes with the services staff available from the diocese.

“He could see the possibilities available, and he could call people to do more,” Hanson said. “He was an unassuming guy, who could tell people, ‘Here’s an opportunity. Let’s do it, together.’ “

In recent years, Yuse felt strongly about health care, and the need for America to have a better system.

Last year, he entered a national contest to redesign the nation’s health care system.

His proposal, which he called Medicare For All, finished second and will be proposed in legislation to Congress during this year.

Yuse is survived by his wife of 47 years, Adonna; three daughters, Mary Yuse-Miller of Sheridan, Ore., Janet Turner of Edmonds, Wash., and Rita Yuse of Lynnwood, Wash., and two sons, Paul, of Edmonds, Wash., and John, of Shoreline, Wash.; a brother, Clement Yuse; seven grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.

A rosary and vigil will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home, 2203 N. Division, and a Mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. Saturday at Assumption Parish, 3624 Indian Trail Road.

The family asks that memorials be sent to the House of Charity, in care of Catholic Charities, 1023 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA, 99201.