We received news from Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling Saturday afternoon that former Edmonds City Councilmember Thomas Petruzzi died last week. Earling worked with Mr. Petruzzi after he was appointed to the council in 1991 to fill a vacancy.

While Mr Petruzzi successfully ran to retain his seat in 1993, he resigned from the city council in January 1997, stating he wanted to spend more time with his family.

A former senior vice-president for Washington Mutual,. Mr Petruzzi “was just a straight-up guy who made really good, clear-headed decisions, read everything and asked lots of questions,” Earling said. “He always felt really comfortable on any position he ended up taking on an issue.”

Through his work with Washington Mutual, Mr. Petruzzi was an expert in commercial real estate values, and was key to negotiating an agreement to purchase the downtown Edmonds building that now houses Edmonds City Hall, Earling said. At the time, there was considerable debate about whether the city should build a new city hall or acquire an existing building, and Mr. Petruzzi’s analysis showed that the existing building purchase would save the city about a million dollars, he added.

“It’s what he would be most proud of,” Earling added.

According to the website of Gilbertson Funeral Home, Mr. Petruzzi died on April 29. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Maryke, and his daughters Donna (John) and Kathleen (Bob), and even grandchildren: Alex, Aliena, Gabe, Sean, Annaliese, Jason, and Andrew.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, May 7 at 11 a.m. at St. Cecilia’s Parish in Stanwood, with a Recitation of the Rosary at 10  a.m. and a reception following the Mass.