| Sources |
- [S221] Elmer, Jeffrey GEDCOM.
- [S2872] The News Tribune, Kent police officer loved slot cars, died helping friend; obituary; 26 February 2011; Robin L. McCuistion; 6 March 2011; Olivia Bobrowsky.
OLIVIABOBROWSKY; The Seattle Times
Published: 02/26/114:13 am | Updated: 02/26/11 9:58 am
Kent police officer loved slot cars, diedhelping friend
Lt. Pat Lowery said heworked with Officer Robin McCuistion as his supervisor and knew him as aconsiderate, hardworking officer.
“Hewas kind of a charismatic person and got along well with people,” Lowery said,adding that McCuistion was a reliable worker.
“Youcould consistently count on him to be out there and doing the job and beingwilling to take on some tasks and assignments that weren’t so glamorous but yethad to be done,” Lowery said.
McCuistion,a 13-year veteran of the Kent Police Department and lover of slot cars, died ina car crash early Thursday morning while off-duty. He was 53.
Thesnowy weather may have contributed to the crash, Kent police said, thoughinformation about the circumstances of the crash was limited.
McCuistionwas driving to his Pierce County home when his car left the roadway on KerseyWay Southeast in Auburn, rolled down an embankment and hit a tree at about12:25 a.m. He died at the scene, according to Kent police.
McCuistionworked a day shift for the bulk of his career, Lowery said, which meant hedealt firsthand with the public.
DanParris, of Kent, a friend of McCuistion’s, said that outside of work,McCuistion poured his energy into slot cars – toy cars that move in a slot on atrack.
Heand Parris met about a year and a half ago and became instant friends. Theyopened a slot-car shop in Edgewood, called Pacific Slot Car Raceways.
McCuistionhad been feeling lonely after his children grew up and left home, Parris said,but that changed when he opened his business.
McCuistionwas a quiet person, but he made hundreds of friends through the shop, and hegradually came out of his shell, Parris said.
“Herealized how many people cared for him,” Parris said. “He had an excellentsense of humor, and we laughed a lot.”
Thepoint of the shop wasn’t to make money, Parris said, but rather to have fun.
“We’dbe worried about business and doing certain things, and we’d get so busy andwe’d have to stop and say, ‘Are we having fun?’ ” Parris said. “And we did.”
McCuistionwas working at his slot-car business late Wednesday night shipping products toSwitzerland, Parris said.
Heoffered to let a co-worker, Jim Radford, sleep at his house in Lake Tapps,Parris said, so Radford wouldn’t have to drive home to Port Orchard in thesnow.
Radfordwas following McCuistion’s car but stopped for a red light at the bottom of ahill, Parris said.
Policethen blocked off the snowy hill before Radford could go up it, so McCuistionwent back down the hill to give Radford alternate directions. That’s when hecrashed.
“Hewas an excellent driver,” said Parris. “He had all-wheel drive. I’m sure hedidn’t think anything of it. It’s just one of those freak things.”
McCuistionis survived by his wife, Diane, of Lake Tapps, and three adult children, Ian ofHawaii, Robbie of Seattle and Lauren of New Mexico.
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1957 - 2011 (53 years)
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