When WSBA President Dale Carlisle recently awarded Cullen with the Local Hero Award, in the form of a plaque, at the WSBA Board of Governors meeting in Olympia, Cullen was taken aback.

"I was certainly surprised by it. I didn't know anybody was planning anything like that," Cullen said.

The plaque documented WSBA's appreciation for Cullen's outstanding services to the bar and to the residents of Thurston County -- involvement that goes beyond his law practice.

Long-term service

Cullen has practiced business law, litigation and estate planning in Olympia since 1973. Currently, he is vice president of the South Puget Sound Estate Planning Council and has remained a member of that organization for more than 20 years.

"To say that David (Cullen) is an extrovert is to put it mildly," said Steve Henderson, an estate planning and personal injury lawyer who first met the established Cullen when Henderson was a young lawyer in town. Both attorneys now work in the same building at 1800 Cooper Point Road.

"Talk to David for five minutes and you'll discover that he has a very dry sense of humor," said Henderson, who nominated Cullen for the Local Hero Award. "I have a lot of respect for him and was aware of the activities that he had been involved in with the community and particularly at the state bar."

Then Henderson began rattling off some of Cullen's many volunteer activities.

Since 1999, Cullen has served on the WSBA Disciplinary Board, where he is now the chairman.

Deeply involved with the West Olympia Rotary since 1976, Cullen served as club president during 1993 and '94.

"Rotary is an international organization," Cullen said, "Right now we're sponsoring a Habitat for Humanity house where club members volunteer their time and financial support."

Cullen also served on the board of the local American Red Cross from 1978 to 1999, and he was the board's chairman seven times between 1986 and 1999.

Cullen's interest in the Red Cross began with the stories and pictures that his favorite aunt Corlin Cullen used to share with him while he was a boy. She was a Red Cross worker in Europe during World War II. Cullen's father, William Cullen III, served in the Marines in the South Pacific, and the Red Cross was active there as well.

Raising money

Kay Walters, executive director of the Thurston-Mason County Red Cross chapter, met Cullen 12 years ago when he was instrumental in hiring her.

Walters said that after the Sept. 11 attacks, Cullen stood up during a West Olympia Rotary meeting and explained the resultant financial needs of the American Red Cross' rescue efforts.

"He raised more than $800 from the people who attended the meeting that day," she said. "He was very instrumental in letting people who attended that particular Rotary know the need and what the need was going to be."

Walters also praised Cullen for his continued support of the Red Cross and emphasized that he is persistent in recruiting new members for the organization's board.

"He is one of the (financial) sponsors of our local Heroes Breakfast ... and more than 700 people attend that event," she said.

"The Heroes Breakfast is a celebration," Cullen explained. "It recognizes people in the community for heroic deeds, people who save a life or prevent a serious problem, such as pulling someone out of a car or a river."

While these kinds of dramatic rescues unfold on a regular basis in affiliation with the American Red Cross, Cullen has been known to submerse himself in another kind of drama.

More than 20 years ago, he first volunteered to act in the Olympia Little Theater.

"I played different roles in each play," Cullen said in a matter-of-fact tone when referring to the five plays in which he participated.

Cullen even starred as lead in a 1978 performance called "No Sex Please, We're British."

Cullen has three sons: William IV, 26; David Jr., 21; and Jim, 19. His wife, Susan Cullen, works for him as a paralegal.

Tami Jayne Jackson is a correspondent for The Olympian.