Federal Way Public Schools Graduates of Note
Jack Dovey
Business Owner; Federal Way Mayor and City Councilman
Decatur High School
Graduate, Class of 1973
Federal Way Mayor Jack Dovey has been a leader since the early 1970s when he was a student at Decatur High School. Back then, he was president of the Associated Student Body for two years, participated in sports and took advanced classes.
Dovey attended Lakota Junior High and Federal Way High School before transferring to Decatur. He graduated in 1973 as part of the new school's first graduating class. At that time, Decatur was experimenting with an independent learning style of teaching. "They really taught me how to prioritize what I was going to do and how I was going to do it," Dovey said. "They taught us how to make decisions...It taught you to be more self assured and more self reliant."
Dovey made the most out of his years at Decatur by getting involved. "I was able to take advantage of just about everything I wanted to from student government to sports to challenging classes," he said. Dovey recalls having several mentors at school who influenced him. Tom Chapman, the vice principal and tennis coach, was also a student government advisor. "He was just always there challenging us to continue to think and do better," Dovey said. Mr. Jasper, the school counselor at the time, reminded students to do well in school and apply for scholarships. "It was a great group of instructors," Dovey said.
After high school, Dovey went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in geography from Oregon State University. He was first appointed to the Federal Way City Council in 1995 and then elected by the voters in 1996. He served until 2000 and then returned to the Council in 2003. Dovey assumed the post of mayor in 2008. He is a past president of the Federal Way Kiwanis, a past member of the Seattle-King County Economic Development Council and a past manager of an American Little League Team.
In addition to serving in city government, Dovey co-owns a chain of nine local BlueWater Wireless stores. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children - Jackson and Jeneca. The family regularly hosts foreign exchange students in their home and Dovey said that the experience opened the world to his children. Dovey also enjoys skiing and he co-designed an articulated snowboard.
Looking back, Dovey said that Federal Way schools prepared him well for his future. "Federal Way had great sports, great academics and really challenging classes," Dovey said. "Federal Way schools gave guys like me a great foundation to get to the next step... We had great teachers and there are great teachers now."