Tumwater to honor late Sally Otton at Pioneer Bowl. ‘She was a very bright spot.’

Tim Otton remembers the first time he laid eyes on his wife, Sally. He was sitting with a friend, watching a basketball game at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where he was a student and football player. Two 6-foot blondes passed by where they were sitting. One in particular caught Otton’s eye, prompting an inquisitive elbow nudge.

That’s Sally, his friend told him. A group of them, including Sally, were going to the Grey Moose Pub after the game. Whatever Otton’s plans were for the night, they changed at that moment.

“Guess I’m going to the Grey Moose Pub,” Otton told his friend, laughing.

They talked for hours and danced the night away. Within a week, they were dating and shortly thereafter, they married and moved back to Tumwater, Washington and started a family.

Sally Otton was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 11 years ago. She died in the family’s Tumwater home on Sept. 20. While her condition had worsened over time, her death was sudden.

“It’s a progressive disease and there’s no cure for it,” said Otton from the Tumwater District Stadium sideline at practice on Wednesday afternoon, where he serves as the T-Birds’ defensive coordinator. “So things just got progressively worse in terms of motor skills and stuff. … Obviously, it’s really difficult to watch.”

And more difficult for Sally, who was a fitness fanatic. She grew up in Utah, playing volleyball and swimming competitively all the way through college. As an adult, she competed in triathlons and ran half-marathons, even while she was pregnant. She worked as a physical education teacher in the Tumwater School District.

“To see her lose that ability — she always kept a really positive attitude — but that was really hard on her,” Otton said. “It was hard to see her go through it.”

She loved her three kids, Kylie, Cade and Ryan, all three of whom were star athletes at Tumwater High School. Kylie was a star swimmer for the T-Birds; Cade and Ryan were both star tight ends for the football team. Cade is now a rookie playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a successful college career at UW, where Ryan is currently a freshman playing for the Huskies.

Aside from the obvious athletic talent, the character of the Otton kids stands out to Tumwater football coach Bill Beattie. He thinks back to a playoff game a couple years ago. The Huskies had a bye, so Cade was in Tumwater for the high school game.

“We had a timeout and he brings the water bottles out to our kids,” Beattie said.

Those traits are in line with all the Otton family: humble, generous, down to earth.

“That all stems from their family dynamic,” Beattie said. “You can see it’s just something, that’s just the way they believe family should be. It’s a pleasure to see that.”

Tim, 53, is the oldest of Sid and Marjean Otton’s three children. Sid Otton is Washington’s winningest high school football coach with 386 victories, claiming five state championships for Tumwater along the way.

Tim Otton downplays all of that. He shies away from the spotlight, is quick to deflect credit whenever possible and has no interest in playing up the family name for recognition or attention. Still, he understands the Otton name carries some weight in Tumwater.

“One of the things I wanted to highlight was just how she was phenomenal in whatever she did,” Otton said, talking through tears. “You think — it sounds stupid saying this — but the Otton name. She was part of whatever my dad and my brother and Cade did and everything, but she was on her own a phenomenal teacher, phenomenal athlete.

“She would’ve had the same amount of outpouring of love — it didn’t matter what her last name was. I just want people to know that she was awesome, she was loved, she loved all her friends and family, loved spending time with them.”

After a football game this season, Tumwater’s coaches gathered at Tim’s house for a get-together. Beattie peered into the house through the window and saw Tim doting on Sally, making sure she had food and was comfortable.

“Your heart just melts, for how blessed they were having each other and just how much he cared for and loved her,” Beattie said.

Tumwater plays rival Black Hills in the Pioneer Bowl on Friday night at Tumwater District Stadium. All the ticket proceeds will go toward finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease in Sally’s honor. Tumwater’s players will be wearing stickers on their helmets in honor of Sally.

A celebration of life for Sally will be held at 11 a.m. on October 29, at Tumwater High School. Sally’s favorite place to be was on the beaches of Hawaii, and the Otton family requests that guests wear island attire to both honor her memory and to keep the event casual and happy, as Sally would have wanted it. It will be open to the public.

“It’s a hard loss, man,” Otton said. “She was a very bright spot.”