A Neighborly Profile

Anyone driving on 72nd Avenue SE (south of 29th) has seen the house. It is the ultra-tidy, brimming with pride of ownership, brick rambler across the street from First Hill Park. Fred is the owner and he keeps a pretty tight ship. It is my privilege to introduce you to Fred.

Fred is a World War II veteran. He joined he Navy when he was 18. His hails from Ukiah, CA and that is where Fred learned to work. He picked grapes and anything else in season, harvested abalone, took care of the animals, and just about anything else. The Navy taught him a whole lot more. He learned to always travel in pairs when on leave, Morse Code, organization, and that you get a tattoo when you cross the international date line.

He worked for Atkinson Construction his entire career. Those were the days when you could do that. Fred still gets called to gauge his interest in supervising a project and he is 83 years young. You see his life work daily; the I-90 bridge, the tunnel going through Mercer Island, various projects on I-5, as well as managing huge concrete projects for dams throughout the world. Fred receives those "How 'bout coming back to work" phone calls because he was fair, safety conscience, had common sense, knew how to work, and respected his company. He did not have a college education; it was his work ethic, loyalty, and common sense that made him successful and admired by his peers.

These days you will see him on his daily 2 mile walk around the neighborhood, using a golf putter as a walking stick. You might even see him riding his bike. Fred is quite a gardener. He screets his garden soil just like he would concrete; it is perfect with no bumps or low spots. The rows of green beans are all lined up in military precision. The beans his doesn't eat or giveaway will be canned or pickled. He is still working on mastering the art of growing tomatoes in the Northwest climate.