Bert D Stover

Bert D. Stover was born to Jim Stover and Dorothy Parr Stover on March 1st, 1957 in Alpena Michigan where he grew up on a working farm and later on Long Lake. There he learned to love spending time on the water and outdoors . His childhood was filled with adventure. In 1969, the family moved to Washington State. Following graduation from Burlington High School in 1975, Bert went on to become a journeyman carpenter like his father. As a young man he enjoyed long backpacking and biking trips around the Pacific Northwest and Europe. He was also an avid skier. 

After working for several years as a carpenter, Bert joined his sister Bets in the Columbia Gorge where he worked on an herb farm and relished living a rural life.

In 1984, Bert moved to New York City and worked with his brother, Jeff, in their own fine woodworking business.They built custom furniture and did remodeling. Bert also taught Shaker carpentry at The New School. During this time he attended City College of New York, receiving his BA, Magna Cum Laude, in 1990 in psychology. While in school he worked as a research assistant at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital which began his career in data science and health research. 

Shortly thereafter Bert returned to Washington State and was employed as a Research Scientist at the University of Washington’s Harborview Occupational Health and Environmental Medicine in Seattle.This was a field close to his heart as a former carpenter. In 2004 he completed a Ph.D. in Health Services Research at the University of Washington.

During his career in Health Services at UW, Bert held various positions as a research scientist. He worked on issues as diverse as homelessness, asbestos exposure and hearing loss, and investigated and published works related to worker disabilities using more than a million work history records; he had a special focus on Hanford nuclear site workers. One of Bert’s favorite projects was in Uganda where he helped the Centers for Disease Control and Uganda Ministry of Health investigate how parallel HIV projects may have crowded out important primary health care services. He co-led trips for University of Washington students to Uganda with his colleague Amy Hagopian until his bladder cancer diagnosis in 2022. 

Bert married Teresa Holder in Seattle in 1995. Their son Preston was born in 1996.

Bert loved the outdoors and enjoyed many activities, especially canoeing. He devoted himself to wood-working projects and his family. He could fix anything and applied his brilliant mind to that end. Bert also was dedicated to doing the right thing in this world and cared deeply about the underserved and exploited as well as the environment. 

Bert passed away peacefully on December 31, 2024 after struggling with aggressive bladder cancer for 2 ½ years. He was a shining example of how to face pain, adversity and mortality with grace and love for all around him. He died at home with his wife, son[1] and nephew by his side. We cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His family thanks all the friends (special thanks to Preston’s girlfriend Madison) and health care providers at Fred Hutch Cancer Center who made Bert’s life as good as possible in the last year. 

Bert is survived by his loving wife Teresa and son Preston; his siblings, Ann Tennyson, Bets Stover, Jeff Stover and Jaye Stover; and his nephew Parr Stover and nieces Alissa Stover, Keri, Britney, Cheyann and Ali Tennyson. And last but not least, his beloved beagle mix Leroy. 

A memorial service will be held on February 15th, 2025 at 2:00 pm at Seattle Parks and Recreations’ Mt. Baker Rowing and Sailing Center, 3800 Lake Washington Blvd S, Seattle WA 98118 (on the shores of Lake Washington in South Seattle, north of Seward Park).

Donations can be made in Bert’s name to the following organizations:

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund-www.pcrf.net; The Center for Biological Diversity- www.biologicaldiversity.org and Democracy Forward-https://democracyforward.org.