Community Service Officer Jane Dore stepped in to Protect the Elderly (Dore photo with bolded quotes halfway down the page)

Thursday, February 26, 2026

SEATTLE — Seattle police are warning residents about a surge in roofing scams targeting elderly homeowners, after investigators uncovered 22 victims and nearly $932,000 in financial losses since April of last year.

The average victim is 76 years old. Scammers pose as roofers, show up uninvited at homes, and pressure residents into paying large sums for unnecessary or fraudulent work, in some cases deliberately damaging roofs themselves to manufacture a reason for costly repairs.

One North Seattle woman, Evelyn, a widow, nearly lost $34,000 to the scheme before a timely intervention stopped the payments.

"He was very well spoken, very nicely dressed. Loved his accent, which was Irish," Evelyn said of the man who came to her door.

He told her that her chimney "really was on the edge of destruction and needed to be taken down." Trusting his assessment, she handed over a $30,000 check and a $4,000 check.

Evelyn, whose husband David served in Special Forces in Vietnam and passed away two years ago, said she is still adjusting to navigating decisions without him.

"I am still getting used to not having his wise ness with me about things that I don't know about," she said.

Her instincts eventually kicked in.

"I just got suspicious and thought I need to find out more about this before they go forward," Evelyn said.

She called a friend, who contacted police and reached Chris and Debra Young, longtime family friends connected to Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 423.

Chris Young, who has helped Evelyn and her late husband for a decade, moved quickly. He blocked a worker's vehicle from leaving the scene while his wife Debra called 911.

"The scam was just ridiculous,” Young said.

Days on End. "A New Day has Begun."

By Thomas D. Pearman* 

Time is all that counts.  I was seeing the musical ‘Cats’ - “Burned out ends of smoky days - street lamp flutters - and then it sputters - and a new day has begun.”  And a new day has begun.  It means not so much to seize a new day - and enjoy it - but that the passing of time is inevitable.  It was sung by the head actress - a cat- who had once been beautiful, glamorous and happy, but is now old, faded and knows she will die soon. 

We are all part of the steady progression of time.  We have come and we will go, just as people before us have come and gone, and just as people after us will come and go.  We will leave great marks, varying marks, or no marks at all as our time has passed.

The passing of time does not escape any of us.  One only has to look at photos of how we looked throughout our life.  It seems situations around us change greatly, and we look older, yet we remain the same person.  It is what is so painful.