Federal Way Best Western hotel owner to turn 100

During the height of the baseball tournament season each year, youth teams fill the Best Western Plus Evergreen Inn & Suites in Federal Way to capacity.

In the morning, the hotel restaurant serves a hot breakfast for the teams. Every booth and table is full. And milling around, finding where she can best serve the young staff, is Alice Dobson, or as everyone likes to call her, Miss Alice.

At 99, Dobson is a 10 percent investor in the Best Western property at 32124 25th Ave. S. In 1999, in her early 80s, Dobson realized a lucrative opportunity to invest. A couple, who were friends of Dobson and her late husband, were in need of investors to secure a loan that would allow them to build and open a Best Western.

“I said, ‘Why don’t you ask me?’” Dobson said. “I was helping myself out. It was a strict business deal.”

Sixteen years later, at age 99, Dobson still wields robust business acumen.

“I buy stock, and I’m good at it,” Dobson said with no hesitation and a stern eye.

While many people her age require round-the-clock care and need assistance with daily activities, Dobson is relatively healthy. She requires no cane to walk, and doesn’t pause to take a breath when walking two flights of stairs at the hotel. She said the only thing that ails her now is her eyesight and hearing. The last bout of illness she remembers fighting was the measles when she was much younger.

Dobson will turn 100 on July 16. She is proud of her age. Her birthdate is stated clearly on her Best Western Plus business card: Alice Dobson, Owner, Born July 16, 1915.

Dobson said when she turned 90 the hotel put on a huge party for her. Upwards of 200 or more people showed. Many asked her the perennial question: What is the secret to living a long life? Dobson said she thinks this question was asked when she turned 90 because everyone thought she would be passing away soon.

The secret to living a long life, she told them, was keeping a positive attitude and not letting animosity and hatred eat you away.

“Don’t have hatred,” she said. “It burns out your own heart and soul. It ruins your mind.

“I’ve lived my life treating others with respect,” she said. “I’ve told that to so many people and so many have said I hit the nail on the head.”

Just this year, Dobson established permanent residency at the Best Western. Before this year, she spent four hours a day traveling on the bus from home to work and back.

“I lived alone,” she said. “I kept my garden. I kept my house.”

Dobson has been widowed for 23 years. With her first husband, she had two children: a son and daughter. Her son will turn 80 on Sept. 1. Her daughter passed away 27 years ago. Today, Dobson is a proud grandmother of five grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, four great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild.

Dobson was born and raised in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Her father worked the carnivals in the area. In her teens, Dobson’s short stature and nimbleness got her a job as an acrobat, entertaining audiences at the carnival between curtain calls. She also dabbled for a time crafting dresses for the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway in New York City.

Today, Dobson said she is still very nimble, which she said keeps her young and spry.

Prior to her investment in Best Western, Dobson never had experience in hotel management. For 36 years she worked as a factory employee for Northwest Glass in Seattle. During that time, she was also a union officer for 25 years, where she cultivated a strong leadership style.

Nowadays, Dobson’s responsibilities at the hotel include helping wherever it’s needed.

“I walk around most of the time to see what needs to be done,” she said. “If it needs to be done, I just do it. I’m in good condition to do that.”

Beyond her 100th birthday, Dobson said she believes she will continue her contributions to the Best Western Plus.

“I’ve always been conscientious of working hard and keeping my mind clear,” she said.

by ANDREW FICKES, Federal Way Mirror Contributor