George Benson, father of Seattle's waterfront trolley, dies

By Susan Gilmore
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Mr. Benson, 85, served 20 years on the Seattle City Council before retiring in 1993. He died in his sleep in an assisted-living facility in Edmonds.

"He was the best dad anyone could have wanted," said his daughter, Amy Padgett, of Everett.

Two years ago, during the 20th anniversary of the streetcar, the line was named after the former pharmacist who was one of the council's most beloved members.

When Mr. Benson was a young boy he told his parents he wanted to be a streetcar conductor when he grew up. When he married Evelyn Benson 59 years ago he took her on a honeymoon to Oregon City, where the newlyweds rode the city's streetcar.

"I'm a trolley nut," Mr. Benson said when honored by the trolley line.

Even after he retired from the council, Mr. Benson was a weekly visitor to the streetcar-repair facility near Myrtle Edwards Park, where he could be found touching up the paint on the classic Australian cars.

Mr. Benson's wife, also a pharmacist, died two years ago. The couple operated Bensons' Mission Pharmacy on Capitol Hill for 46 years, with Mrs. Benson behind the counter. Children would come into the pharmacy to see Mr. Benson's trolley car displays.

Mr. Benson was noted for solving large and small problems citizens had with their government. During construction of the downtown bus tunnel, former Mayor Charles Royer likened it to living in the war zone of Beirut. Every Friday afternoon Mr. Benson walked the muddy plywood sidewalks to talk with the business owners caught up in construction along Third Avenue. When someone complained about a pothole, Mr. Benson would make sure it got filled.

"He was a wonderful liaison," said Royer. "He cared a lot about small-business people."

When the city was financially strapped in the early 1980s, Mr. Benson came to the office one weekend and sanded and varnished his own desk to cut costs. It had been damaged when water leaked from the floor of the mayor's office above. Royer said after the roof was fixed he would sneak down to Benson's office, hide behind a file cabinet and shoot him with a water pistol making Mr. Benson think the roof was still leaking.
 
Royer first met Mr. Benson when he would deliver medicine for Royer's children late at night.

Mr. Benson played tuba and trombone all his life and for years marched with the Husky Alumni Band.

No services have been scheduled yet. Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com