D. MICHAEL TOMKINS

D. MICHAEL TOMKINS

David Michael Tomkins (age 70), an attorney, published author, and long-time resident of Seattle, WA, died in his home on Sunday, March 18, 2018, with his beloved daughter and wife at his side.

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Michael, as he preferred to be called from the age of 5, was born in Chicago, IL. He was the second child of Winnifred Mildred (Singer) Tomkins and Alfred Ephraim Tomkins. Around the time he was three years old, the family moved to Pacific Palisades, CA. where he would spend the rest of his childhood. He overcame a learning disability and learned to read at the age of 8 with support from his family and a special tutor. He went on to become a voracious reader and published author.

As a child, he was active in sports and boy scouts, eventually becoming an Eagle Scout. He graduated in 1965 from Ojai Valley High School where he made many life-long friends. He graduated from Cal-Western University in 1969 with a degree in Political Science. He then attended the University of Minnesota Law School, in St. Paul, MN. then moved to Seattle and passed the Washington State Bar exam in 1973.

In 1983, he met Margie Rennie at a house boat party on Lake Union. From that time on they were inseparable; Margie worked with Michael in his law practice and on multiple business ventures. They were married in 1990 in Cape Town, South Africa.  In 1994, Kaysee-Li was born in Guangzhou, China.

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Michael was one of a kind. He always had a new business idea for anyone he met, was endlessly kind and generous to all, and was the best conversationalist any of us knew. His charm and wit were immediately apparent; he loved reading and writing books, baseball, and, of course, his family. He was and always will be Washington’s Funniest Lawyer. His published works include: Trial and Error, The 30 Hit Season, and The World Below.

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Ted Kennedy said of his brother Robert, “Love is not an easy thing to put into words. Nor is loyalty, or trust, or joy. But he was all of these. He loved life completely and he lived it intensely”, and the same can be said of Michael.