William C. Fix '44, center, was with the first American trekkers allowed into Bhutan, in 1975. They were led by Tenzing Norgay, left, who was one of the first two individuals known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. At right, a Bhutanese guide.

While hitchhiking across the country from New Haven, Conn., to Seattle in 1947, Bill Fix '44 decided to hike up Tweewinot Mountain in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. What he didn't consider was how he would descend, wearing only a pair of moccasins. Ice ax in hand, Fix glissaded all the way down the mountain. When he arrived at the ranger station, the sole from his right moccasin was completely gone.

The tale captures two of Fix's personal traits: a lifelong love of mountaineering and a get-it-done spirit.

Fix came to Lakeside in 1940 as a freshman. "I received more advancement in my education while at Lakeside than in my years following," he says, adding, "The best class was our third-year English class with Harold Belgum. We learned more topics that year, from an intensive look at the gospel of St. Matthew, to a philosophy lesson called ‘Mind in the Making,' to literature from the 1930s and 1940s."

Teacher Fred Bleakney suggested that he apply for a scholarship to Yale. "Mr. Bleakney looked out for us all," Fix recalls. Fix won the scholarship but attended University of Washington for two years then transferred to Yale, graduating in industrial engineering in 1948.

At Yale, he started the Yale mountaineering club. His love of the outdoors began in his days as a Boy Scout, when he learned to camp, hike — and glissade — and maintained trails in the Olympic Mountains and at Mount Rainier.

After graduating Yale, he and four other friends spent seven weeks climbing the Coast Mountains in British Columbia. "The logistics were tough. We packed 50 pounds of cheddar cheese, 50 pounds of dried milk, cans of dehydrated meat and vegetables, and other supplies. Our supplies were free-dropped from a plane to designated spots on the mountain."

He went on to climb Forbidden Peak in the North Cascades, one of Washington's 100 steepest climbs, with famed climber Pete Schoening in 1950; and climbed five times in India and Nepal. He worked with Washington state's U.S. Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson from 1957 to 1965 to establish the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area and the North Cascades National Park. In 1991, Fix was selected as a lifetime honorary member of the Spokane Mountaineers club for his loyal service, including having served as president in 1957 and 1959.

After serving a stint in the Army from 1950 to 1952, teaching protection from chemical biological warfare, he married Harriet Johnston, and in 1952 the Fixes moved to Spokane. There, he worked for Columbia Electric.

After 20 years in the business, he took a Dale Carnegie course to figure out the next steps in his career path. He identified finance and endowments as areas of strength and interest, and obtained his investment broker license. In 1973 he began the investment business that he still runs today.

Fix has spent much of his investment career managing endowment funds for several nonprofit organizations in Spokane. Personally, both he and his wife have established scholarship endowments at Yale, Smith College (which Harriet attended), and Lakeside School.

Fix began giving back to Lakeside before his senior year. With summer-job earnings, "I donated $100 and a copy of ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips' to the library. I appreciated the Lakeside library; by the time I was 13 years old I had read 200 books." He has continued his generosity through gifts to the Annual Fund, by establishing the William C. Fix '44 Endowed Scholarship, and by naming Lakeside in his will.

"From 1940-1944 my Lakeside scholarship was $500 each year. The balance in our Lakeside endowment is 1,000 times that amount now. We are pleased to give back!" he explains.