Medical Lake High School: Loss of family’s home in Gray fire didn’t derail Delaney Gunther’s senior year

The destruction of her Silver Lake family home in the Gray fire last August made senior year more difficult for Medical Lake High School’s Delaney Gunther.

She played basketball, participated in school clubs and worked to keep her grades up while living in a rented duplex. Her family is still working with its insurance company and has not started rebuilding, Gunther said. “We still have the property,” she said. “We still have the memories. We’ll make more.”

The family wasn’t home on the day they it nearly everything to the Gray fire. The Gunthers were on the East Coast checking out colleges and visiting family. The first they heard about the fire was a text about the evacuation from a friend. “She was walking our dog at the time,” Delaney said.

Another friend helped rescue the other family pets, much to Gunther’s relief.

“I was mostly freaking out about my animals,” she said. “We were in Buffalo for two days after the house burnt down.”

Although their shop survived, the house was gone.

“We had a few belongings we were able to salvage, but everything was basically gone,” she said. “I appreciate that I’m with everyone still.”

Gunther grew up in a military family and spent time in South Korea, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans. By the time she was in second grade, the family had settled in Medical Lake. Gunther has always been involved in school. Although she tried soccer and competed in cross country for two years, basketball has been her focus. Her skill was enough to earn her a partial basketball scholarship to Walla Walla University.

As basketball coach Yeta Halloway describes it, Gunther was the “ringleader” behind persuading her team and school administrators to bring him on as the girls basketball coach this year. He had only coached boys teams and the retired Air Force veteran had a reputation as being stern, but Gunther believed he could help the team win.

Halloway was so impressed by her determination and drive that he gave her his “Player Award,” which is similar to a team MVP award, he said.

“She never missed a game, never missed a practice,” he said. “We won our first nine games and she had a huge part in that.”

Gunther has also been involved in ASB for the past four years, serving as executive officer this year. She has been in Future Business Leaders of America for four years and is vice president this year. She is also the president of Key Club and the vice president of the National Honor Society.

“It’s a lot, but when you have friends in those activities, it doesn’t feel like it’s work when you’re having fun with your friends,” she said.

Music also has been a constant for Gunther. She plays the alto sax and is in the jazz band. She said her choice of instrument dates to the time she lived in New Orleans.

“I’d mimic people playing the sax with my hands,” she said. “When I got the opportunity to try it, I said ‘I can’t let this go.’ ”

Gunther plans to study social work and psychology in college with the goal of becoming a social worker.

“I kind of want to help people who can’t get their voice out,” she said.