Family and friends are remembering Leon Harman. (Along with the remembrance below, they’re also sharing his memories of growing up in West Seattle.)

Leon Harman, 96, died peacefully in the early morning of April 3rd after a short illness at his Adult Family Home in Olympia, Washington. He and his wife, Elaine, had moved to Olympia after a very full life in West Seattle.

Leon was born and raised in West Seattle. His father, Arthur, was a builder and built his first home at 5042 47th SW, where Leon was born. Soon after his father built another home at 4324 SW Myrtle St, where Leon was raised along with his two brothers Elmer and Arnold and sister Bernice.

His early schooling started at Gatewood Elementary school, then to Madison Middle, and on to West Seattle High. He had some early jobs in Alaska as a teen, then enlisted into the Navy near the end of WW II. Taking advantage of the GI Bill, he studied at the University Of Washington and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He soon landed a job at Seattle City Light, where he worked for 30 years. He took early retirement and continued onto a very full life of skiing, sailing, tennis, gardening, and lots of traveling around the world with his wife Elaine. Forty years of Elder Hostel traveling took them to Japan, Soviet Union, Europe, Mexico, Hawaii, and all around the US.

Leon had an exciting early life following his older brothers around. For a nickel he could hitch a ride in the back rumble seat of his brother Elmer’s car to snow ski at Paradise on Mount Rainier. Following in their father’s carpentry skills, Leon helped older brother Arnold build wooden sailboats in the back yard at Willow Street, then hauled them down to Fauntleroy Cove on primitive trailers to launch them next to the Fauntleroy Ferry dock. Using salvaged planks off the beach, they would back the trailer to the water’s edge and launch. This started a lifelong love of many sailboats, leading to yearly trips with the family every summer to the San Juan Islands and other ports throughout the Salish Sea.

Leon and his brother Elmer were instrumental in keeping the Henderson street end open for boats early on, working with the Seattle Engineering Department to keep the access open and allowing dinghy boats to be tied to the edge of the ferry dock. Later in life, Leon would help the Fauntleroy Community Association in planning and maintenance of the present Cove Park. There is even an aluminum casting of Leon’s hand in the artwork at the top of the park. His is the hand with the arthritic small finger.

Leon was an active member in the Snoqualmie Mountaineers. In the early days he volunteered his family time to help build the Lodge at Snoqualmie with many other volunteers. This led to an active skiing life with his family. He was Chairman of the lodge for a few years. He skied well into his 80’s.

Leon loved tennis. One of his early dates was with his future wife of 62 years, Elaine, who he invited down to the Lowman Beach Tennis Court. He had met Elaine working at the Bakery that was located where the Thriftway is now at the Morgan Junction. They were soon to be married. Two children followed, Vicki and then Mark. Dad’s love of tennis led him to be instrumental in talking the city into building the tennis courts on Fauntleroy Avenue below what is now the Solstice Park. This has led to a large group of tennis players who regularly still play to this day. There is even a Leon’s Bench at the tennis courts that celebrates his active participation. Leon’s regular routine was swimming at the YMCA, followed by coffee and political conversation with the regulars at Thriftway, home for breakfast, then hop on his bike down to a rousing tennis match with his friends. Dad kept this up into his middle 80’s.

Leon and Elaine spent 50 years living in their custom-built home near the top of Tillicum Rd in Fauntleroy until the day it became too difficult to take care of. They sold the house and then moved on to Bridge Park Senior Living in High Point until just before Christmas of 2019, when Dad’s health started to decline. Leon loved riding his electric scooter across the street to the bee hives at the new High Point Commons Park to read his books on American history. Elaine continues to live in the Adult Family Home in Olympia where she enjoys walking the gardens around the home and sitting with a good book in her lap.

Leon is survived by his wife Elaine; daughter Vicki in Sandpoint, Idaho; and son Mark, living across the
Sound near Shelton. He has 2 granddaughters, one grandson, and 3 great-grandchildren.

We hope to have a Leon Harman Memorial Tennis Match this summer when conditions hopefully improve. Leon’s one unfulfilled wish that he hoped to stay alive for was to see Trump leave office and Elizabeth Warren replace him.

We miss you, Poppa.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)