Prayers and words of sympathy have poured in from all over Kitsap County after former Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola died Sept. 30.
The news was broken by his wife, Dee, who said he had died that morning at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. It was just four weeks earlier that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Dee took to social media to share the news, stating that he is now at peace. “Husband, father, grandfather, businessman, car enthusiast, fisherman, referee, mentor or friend, he had an amazing passion for life. In the arms of the Lord,” she said.
Coppola was elected mayor in 2007, a position that he had later said when running for reelection should be phased out; he supported a city management arrangement, believing Port Orchard’s evolution would outdate his office. A weak economy during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 limited what he was able to do in office, but the annexation of properties like the McCormick Woods development expanded economic development for homes and businesses alike.
His term would hit some rough patches, especially early on when he slowly but successfully lobbied the City Council to extend the position of mayor to a full-time job with pay to reflect. The former mayor was also arrested in 2010 for driving under the influence, something for which he quickly and publicly accepted responsibility for, even praising police for calling in proper agencies to prevent any issues of bias. He would serve just one term before losing in his quest for reelection by a mere five votes, effectively ending his political career despite some calls to run again or for another office.
It’s not just his brief political career that made Coppola noteworthy. He held a number of roles during his stay on the Kitsap Peninsula: founding Wet Apple Media after moving to Manchester in the 1980s, serving as executive director for the Port of Allyn since 2015; reviewing cars for the Northwest Automotive Press Association; and serving as a longtime director for the Building Industry Association of Washington.
“All of us at BIAW thank and honor Lary for his vast contributions to our industry and association,” the latter organization said in an Oct. 2 statement. “Our condolences to his wife, Dee, his family and all who knew and loved him.”
