Civic leader Fredric Danz dies at 91

When he was 13, Fredric Danz started work as a janitor in the movie theaters owned by his father.

In his later years, he would have to be dragged to the movies, after sitting through so many that he didn't want to see the inside of a movie theater again, said Mr. Danz's longtime companion, Maxine Seligmann.

Mr. Danz, 91, of Kirkland, died in his sleep Friday at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue.

"He wasn't ready to go," said his daughter Alison Danz, of Lake Forest Park. "He was a very bright man with a wonderful sense of humor."

Mr. Danz graduated from Seattle's Garfield High School and attended the University of Washington. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he returned to Washington and, when his father died in 1961, took over as president of Sterling Recreational Organization.

The company owned theaters around the Northwest and one in California. As the theater chain continued to grow, Mr. Danz began to diversify and started radio stations, opened bowling alleys and sponsored swap meets.

"He worked very hard," said Alison Danz. "He would come home for dinner and go back and make the rounds of theaters at night. I asked him how he could last [in the business] 65 years and he said he loved what he did."

Mr. Danz was a prominent civic leader and philanthropist. He was part of a group that in 1969 unsuccessfully tried to buy the Seattle Pilots baseball team and keep it in Seattle — even though he didn't like baseball. That led to a settlement with Major League Baseball that awarded Seattle the Mariners franchise.

"He hated baseball but he thought it was important for the town," said David Schooler, president of Sterling Realty Organization, a real-estate and development company that grew from the movie-theater company. "He is one of the finest men I've ever known. He was extremely smart and had terrific common sense. There are very few Renaissance men left in this country, and he certainly was one."

Until he died, Mr. Danz was a member of the company's board of directors.

Mr. Danz was a founding member of the Variety Club of the Northwest, a founder of the Bellevue Downtown Development Board, a director of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, and president of the Overlake Hospital Medical Center Foundation. In 1985, he was named first citizen by the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors.

A short time later, he began divesting the movie theaters and in 1986 sold them to Cineplex Odeon. That was followed by the sale of the company's bowling alleys and radio stations. Today, Sterling Realty still owns one theater, Puget Park Drive-in in Snohomish County.

Mr. Danz also donated two sculptures to Kirkland waterfront parks, endowed scholarships at the University of Washington and funded preschools for underprivileged children.

Mr. Danz loved to sail, said his daughter, and one of his favorite places was the Gulf Island in British Columbia. He also loved to travel and spent his winters in Hawaii.

Seligmann said she traveled the world with Mr. Danz. "He was a charming, brilliant, handsome, wonderful man," she said. "I was so fortunate to have him in my life. He made my golden years golden."

Son Tad Danz, of Laguna Beach, Calif., said his father, a liberal Democrat, loved to read. "He was a very intellectual man. When he was 91, he was still reading books all the time."

He said he and his siblings' popularity was ensured when they could take their friends to movies or bowling with the family passes.

In addition to his daughter Alison and son Tad, Mr. Danz is survived by daughter Laurie Hamlin, of Hailey, Idaho; son Rian Danz, of Mercer Island; brother Bill Danz, of Seattle; seven grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his second wife, Bess Johnson Danz. He is survived by the mother of his children, Selma Gold Danz.

Services will be at 11 a.m. today at the Seattle Yacht Club, 1807 E. Hamlin St.

Remembrances may be made to local food banks or Jewish Family Service, 1601 16th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com