Arthur Newell Aldrich, Jr

Arthur Newell Aldrich, Jr

Arthur Newell Aldrich, Jr. died peacefully on May 13, 2024, the morning of his 91st birthday, in Edmonds, Washington.

He was born in Atchison, Kansas on May 13, 1933, to Arthur Newell Aldrich Sr. and  Nellie Virginia Seybold. He was known as “Art” to friends and family.

He is survived by his son, Arthur Newell Aldrich III, his sister Jane, brother George (Jan), and many nieces and nephews who loved their Uncle Art. He was preceded in death by his wife of over 50 years, Severine Lessley Aldrich, and daughter Leslie Aldrich, as well as his sister Virginia (Jack, also deceased), and brothers Bill and Dick (Carole), and niece Jane Clifford.

He grew up in Atchison and Kansas City, Missouri, before joining the Coast Guard and serving in Connecticut, Seattle, and the Oregon and Washington coasts. He attended the University of Washington, and subsequently worked in a number of locations across the country, and returned to Seattle after the Great Alaska Earthquake stalled a construction project he was working on.

He worked as a program planning manager at Boeing for three decades. In his spare time he used his professional skills to organize golf tournaments (he was affectionately known as “The Golf Nazi”), and bridge playing groups until shortly before his death.

Art was a true family man. He went in to work early so that he could attend his children’s sports, dance and other events, showing support that they greatly appreciated. He was an avid photographer and took countless photos of family gatherings and other events that he generously shared. He stayed up most of the night after his grandmother Cecelia Aldrich’s 100th birthday getting photos he took developed, and putting prints into albums, so he could share this momentous occasion with family and friends who celebrated with her. He cared for Severine for over 10 years as her health declined. Even as his health declined, his long-term
memory remained astonishing, as ever.

Art was also a unique character. He was extraordinarily skilled at giving nicknames to both people and pets. And starting in the 1950s, he began to sit in the same seats at Husky Stadium for University of Washington football games, in the last row of the end zone on the north side. Behindthe seats, he installed nails in the wall, so that he could hang up a radio, food, and whatever else he needed; his family later attended games in the 1970s and 1980s and arrived right when the gates opened so they all could sit in “his” section, with everything they needed.

He was brilliant, irreverent, a devoted father, brother and friend and is sorely missed. May he rest in peace.