When I think of Daryl Lund, I’ll always remember his grin.
That was how he greeted everyone and nearly everything that came at him in life, I think.
Something about that big, slightly goofy smile just put you at ease. I think it’s part of the reason why so many people considered him a friend, and why so many people in the community are mourning today after we learned that he died Saturday in a Tacoma hospital from septic shock. He was 63.
I last saw Daryl a few months ago at The Chronicle’s Best of Lewis County party at the Chehalis Theatre. I don’t know if he was up for any awards. He just liked getting out and socializing. He was sitting in the back of the elegant theater building, which as a longtime owner he had done much to save. We chatted for a while.
I mentioned to him with a smile that I sort of missed the old cartoon characters that had once been painted on the ceiling from its days as a video store.
He smiled his big grin and said that he did, too.
Of course, Daryl was a big part of the reason that the Chehalis Theatre is such an elegant and regal part of the downtown Chehalis core today. The building has changed hands several times since he bought and ran it, but he placed it firmly on a steady path toward restoration and community use.
I remember going there during his long tenure of ownership. His mom and dad used to help him take tickets. Inside, Daryl would smile as he talked about his many happy memories in the theater, and some of the memories that others had shared with him.
Daryl loved history. The old days were vibrant and alive for him, and he took great joy from owning relics and helping preserve them.
I won’t swear to the details, but I think in recent years I seem to remember him telling me about his purchase of a train caboose and maybe even a locomotive. I have seen confirmation that he owns a vintage fire truck. In fact, it was part of the Chehalis Santa Parade on Saturday, just hours after Daryl left us.
Who owns a fire truck and a train caboose? Daryl, that’s who.
He was also a public servant in the oldest and grandest traditions, serving for nearly half his life on the Chehalis City Council. He also served on the Port of Chehalis Commission. I remember when he filed for office as a port commissioner. It was on Friday of the last day of filing week. He hadn’t made a big show of ramping up a campaign. He simply saw that no one else had filed, so he did on a whim. With a smile.
He was active in the Grange and the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce. He helped found and lead the Peninsular Railway and Lumbermen's Museum in Mason County.
He loved owning buildings and businesses. It seems like as soon as he’d sell one, he’d buy or start another. Most recently it was Minuteman Press in the Lewis County Mall.
Most impressive to me was how this guy with his head in municipal leadership, business operations and the dusty corners of local history was also a dynamic draw for young people.
My son, Sam, was 18 when he met Daryl at a graduation event in 2023. This teenager found a mentor in the 60-something Daryl Lund. They got together later to chat about business, real estate and other matters. Daryl was young at heart and it showed.
Stuart Cavness is another young man who wasn’t of Daryl’s generation, but who formed a fast friendship with him.
“Daryl Lund was an exceptional individual... One in a million is still too low of a percentage to describe him,” Cavness wrote in a Facebook tribute that talks about their lifelong friendship based around common interests and dreams of entrepreneurial adventures together.
Maybe that’s what I’ll remember most about Daryl. Underneath that smile was a buddy-in-waiting. He had some endless reserve of youthful enthusiasm, even playfulness, that many of us lose over the years.
He was always ready for something new and fun. He threw himself into local leadership, business and history projects with unusual abandon, and helped us all see how much fun it all could be.
For six decades, he was perhaps the biggest civic booster and enthusiast in ol’ Chehalis, attracting countless friends and fans along the way.
May his spirit live on in new generations of smiles and service.
Brian Mittge can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
