Foss Miller | October 2, 1947 – April 6, 2026

Vashon Island lost one of our most dear residents on April 6, as Foss Miller passed away peacefully after an extended illness. Foss, 78, was known on the Island as the founder of the “bone factory” and as an active community member who often coached youth basketball and track & field.

He led a full and interesting life, including participating in the Olympic Trials in two different sports twenty-eight years apart—javelin in 1968 and Star class sailing in 1996. Foss’ greatest joy was becoming a father later in life with the arrival of Forrest & Virginia. He embraced fatherhood with his usual energy and excellence.

Foss grew up in Holden, WA, a remote mining camp and company town located deep in the North Cascades. Foss attended school there in a one room schoolhouse with all grades of children together in the same classroom. Holden’s population was around 500. It was a hardscrabble life with both Foss’ father Dick and his uncle Ray working as laborers doing hard rock mining. Surrounded by rugged wilderness, Foss learned to hunt and fish from his father. He tinkered with tools from an early age.

Around second grade Foss’ family moved to East Wenatchee. Foss disassembled a motorcycle and reassembled it without a manual, which he cited as the first sign of his love of engineering. In high school Foss set a national high school record in the javelin with a throw of 232’9” in 1965. This resulted from hours of independent work by Foss & the fortuitous opportunity to work with his great coach, Kugie Louis. Foss referred to this achievement as a lesson about making the best out of the opportunities that came from being rejected by the baseball team. It was one of the many instances where Foss’ work ethic opened doors for him and led him to excel in a niche he made his own. The famous NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw broke Foss’ high school javelin record.

Foss loved sports and brushing shoulders with athletic greats. While working at K2, Foss skied at Sun Valley with Spider Sabich and Jean-Claude Killy. Foss played pick up basketball at UW with the Seattle Sonics. And for four decades Foss raced his sailboats around the world on the Star class circuit with countless Olympic medalists—including his favorite, Olympic Gold Medalist Bill Buchan.

Foss had a true passion for the game of basketball. He played for Eastmont High in East Wenatchee and then for WSU in Pullman. Foss’ freshman coach in college was the legendary Jud Heathcote, who went on to coach Magic Johnson at Michigan State where they won the NCAA Championship and sparked March Madness. When UCLA came to Pullman to play the Cougars, Coach Heathcote invented a drill to help prepare for UCLA freshman Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. For the drill Foss stood on a chair under the basket and used a tennis racket to swat at players’ shots! Coach Heathcote sent a nice birthday card to Foss for his 50th Birthday.

Watching college football, Foss always maintained his Cougar Pride regardless of how many times WSU “Couged it!” Anytime the Cougars would snap the ball within their opponent’s ten-yard line, Foss would say, “Stand for the fumble.”

After graduate school Foss was looking for a job in a tough job market around Seattle. By happenstance he was thumbing through a ski magazine when he saw an ad for K2 skis. He thought he should inquire whether they were hiring, so he called them on the phone. At the time K2’s fiberglass skis were taking off. The sum total of Foss’ job interview was that phone call. They asked Foss if he was a “real engineer?” He said, “Yes.” And they said, “How fast can you get over here?” Foss assumed that he might stay at that first job out of school for a few years and then move on. But he fell in love with Vashon Island.

While at K2 Foss developed a friendship with founder & mentor Bill Kirschner. When Foss expressed a desire to go out and start his own business of some kind, Bill persuaded Foss to stay on for a year or two longer to take over running Jansport. Foss did. While running Jansport Foss invented the collapsible nesting tent poles threaded with elastic shock cord that we all use. Foss loved utilizing his creativity as an engineer.

During that time one of Foss’ friends fortuitously attended a party at UW where he met an orthopedic surgeon who was having challenges supplying his students with bones to practice procedures. The friend connected Foss to Dr. Fred Lippert—and Sawbones was born.

Once Foss & his partner Denzil got Sawbones established, Foss moved to Seattle so he could be nearer to Shilshole for Star boat racing. While living in Seattle, Foss met Linda Sferra. After a couple years they married. Once Forrest and Virginia were born, Linda remembers Foss and his sister Beverly in spirited negotiations every Friday over which of them would get Forrest and Virginia and for how much time on the weekends. Foss adored being a father. And Beverly adored being an aunt.

When the children were small, Foss spearheaded the young family’s move to Vashon. Foss combined his love of both parenting and sports by registering Forrest and Virginia in soccer and basketball. For years Foss was a mainstay as a VIJB youth basketball coach, at one point leading four teams at once. Much to everyone’s excitement, one of his teams won the 6th Grade District Championships.

Foss shared his love for sport with both his children. Foss passed his knowledge and love of javelin to Virginia, as her coach. He was thrilled to travel to NCAA track meets he once participated in himself, including the Pac12 Championships and USA Olympic Trials.

Thanks to Forrest’s pursuit of rowing crew, both Foss and Virginia took up rowing. An accomplished rower, Forrest taught Foss the fundamentals of rowing. Focusing on rowing captured Foss’ analytical love of sport. His first race was the Head of the Lake in a 2x with Virginia. His last race was the Head of the Charles in a 2x with Forrest.

Foss loved adventures and misadventures, the latter of which he felt made better stories. He got kidnapped in Morocco, mugged in Brazil, and snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. Foss sailed the British Virgin Islands annually for many years. Once Foss took his VW Rabbit off-road to go camping, and he high-centered it on a rock. In true Foss style, he picked up the car and lifted it over the rock. Foss was recruited off the dock at Shilshole for his first race as a Star boat sailor. He went on to skipper his own Star to many wins including a race in the famed Bacardi Cup Regatta in Miami in 1997 with a field of 70+ boats.

Foss relished building bonds within his family and within his larger family of employees at the bone factory. He organized the Miller family reunions every year at Lake Chelan so cousins could grow up together. Foss created a tradition at Sawbones of throwing a summer picnic for all employees and their families. Foss valued each and every employee. And he loved riding bikes together with Forrest on the bone factory Courage Classic team—summitting Snoqualmie, Stevens & Blewett Passes along the route.

During his final winter Linda and Foss enjoyed watching Larry Bird basketball highlights together. Linda & Foss observed that Foss shared many characteristics with Larry Bird, and they both have similar life stories. Foss got very excited watching the interview with Jud Heathcote after his Michigan State team beat Larry Bird’s Indiana State in 1979.

Foss was an accomplished businessman and a pillar of his community, leading by example with hard work, a strong moral compass and generously giving back. Foss was a bridge between the past and the future.

His story began during a time of sock hop dances at the local grange and carried on through the age of infinite information. Foss had a futuristic outlook. May he be on his next adventure inventing more useful things and making boats faster.

His departure leaves a large void in his family and in the community of Vashon. Foss is survived by his wife, Linda; his son, Forrest of Cambridge, Massachusetts; his daughter, Virginia of Manhattan, New York; his sister, Beverly; and numerous cousins and dear friends. Foss was preceded in death by his parents Dick and Virginia Miller. A Celebration of Life will be planned for this summer. If you are interested in attending, please register at https://tinyurl.com/fossmiller to stay abreast of plans and to receive an invitation. The easiest way to access the registration form is to click on the link via the online Beachcomber obituary. Foss’ family wishes to thank the staff at Swedish Hospital (five weeks) and Franke Tobey Jones (three weeks) for the excellent care they provided during his final eight weeks. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Foss Miller Memorial Track Scholarship Fund via check made out to Vashon Island Track & Field Boosters, FBO Foss Miller Account and mailed to Flostate Running, 17508 Vashon Hwy. S.W., Vashon, WA 98070. Or donations can be made via Venmo: @VashonXC Please direct questions to james@flostaterunning.com.