THEN: Framed by three cars, including a 1927 Pierce-Arrow (center) and 1927 Cadillac (right), Bleitz Funeral Home presides next to the Fremont Bridge and along the Lake Washington Ship Canal circa 1930. The building’s architect and builder are unknown. (Pierson Photo Co., Emmick Family Collection )NOW: In this wider view of the landmarked Bleitz building are (from left) Michael, Desirée and Craig Emmick, their firm’s 1972 Cadillac Miller Meteor hearse; Georgi Phelps of building owner Pastakia & Associates; Craig Smith of general contractor Foushée; and Leanne Olson, Maureen Elenga and Michael Herschensohn of the Queen Anne Historical Society. Demolition of a non-landmarked 1988 addition made possible the new, four-story office building at left. More info: the Bleitz page on Facebook and the Queen Anne Historical Society. (Clay Eals)
Published in The Seattle Times online on June 16, 2022
and in PacificNW Magazine of the printed Times on June19, 2022
Bleitz’s consumer-first legacy enlivens 101-year-old funeral home
By Clay Eals
From death can spring life. Case in point: the feisty, long-lasting Bleitz Funeral Home.
The 101-year-old edifice represents a customer-focused tradition at a prominent corner, hovering over the Lake Washington Ship Canal at the south end of the Fremont Bridge.
Serving bereaved families until 2017, the same year it was designated a Seattle landmark, it has entered a new phase as a fully leased office building, anchored by The North Face apparel firm. The pandemic-era preservation triumph was stewarded by its current owner, Pastakia & Associates of Seattle, and general contractor, Bellevue-based Foushée.
THEN: Jacob Bleitz (left) confers with his son, James, who followed in his father’s funeral-director footsteps. The chair in which James is sitting is still in use at Emmick Family Funeral Services in West Seattle. (Pierson Photo Co., Emmick Family Collection)
The stately, 2-1/2-floor concrete structure arose just four years after the ship canal and bridge were completed. Illinois-born Jacob Bleitz (pronounced “Blites”) had worked as an undertaker in Wichita before establishing a funeral business in 1904 in Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood. After short partnerships in Fremont with morticians Edgar Ray Butterworth and John Rafferty, he crossed the bridge and settled his sole-owner mortuary in 1921 along Queen Anne’s industrial northern edge.
THEN: A full-page ad for Bleitz-Rafferty Co. in the Feb. 18, 1915, Seattle Star newspaper blasts overcharging for funeral services. Kilbourne Street is now North 36th Street in Fremont. (Washington Digital Newspapers)
From the start, dealing with death transcended mere business for Bleitz. He promoted affordability and excoriated undertakers he called predatory. “The People of Seattle Have Been Outrageously Overcharged for Funerals and Materials,” roared a full-page notice in the Feb. 18, 1915, Seattle Star. His ads promised the “lowest” prices. One even warned of “graft” by competitors whom Bleitz said gave away hundreds of Christmas turkeys to induce referrals.
April 19, 1938, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p18.
Long before it became popular, Bleitz also encouraged a cheaper alternative: cremation. In the late 1930s, he went further, patenting and using an ultra-hot-flame technique leaving no remains, called evaporation: “The New And Better Way … COSTS NO MORE … Gives a comfort never before known.” It didn’t catch on.
In the year Bleitz died, 1939, the family firm partnered with the new People’s Memorial Benefit Association, a cooperative that emphasized spiritual rather than material aspects of attending to the bereaved. Later, the Bleitz company became known in funeral circles for serving AIDS victims and the LGBTQ+ community when other mortuaries rejected them.
THEN3: Lawrence Bleitz (left), younger son of Jacob Bleitz, stands at the KJR radio microphone while an unknown organist performs at Bleitz Funeral Home circa 1930. The pipe organ was removed and donated in 2005 to Blessed Seelos Catholic Church in New Orleans as part of Hurricane Katrina recovery. (Pierson Photo Co., Emmick Family Collection)
Over the years, Bleitz Funeral Home handled more than 180,000 deaths, including the cremations of famed grunge rockers Andrew Wood in 1990 and Kurt Cobain in 1994. Today the building showcases “adaptive reuse,” meriting an award in May from the Queen Anne Historical Society.
Historian Michael Emmick embodies the Bleitz legacy via family connections. Working stints at Bleitz were Michael’s great-grandfather, Sam Frederiksen (1970s-80s); father, Craig Emmick (1975-2004); and wife, Desirée Emmick, (2015-17). Since 2014, the Emmicks have operated their own West Seattle funeral business, guided by the Bleitz approach — as Michael says, “not selling people something they don’t need.”
WEB EXTRAS
Thanks to Eric Jones, Tejal Pastakia, Bob Carney and the Emmicks — Craig, Desirée and especially Michael — for their help with this installment.
To see Clay Eals‘ 360-degree video of the “Now” prospect and compare it with the “Then” photos, and to hear this column read aloud by Clay, check out our Seattle Now & Then 360 version of the column.
VIDEO (8:00): Click the image to see video interviews about Bleitz Funeral Home with Michael, Craig and Desiree Emmick of Emmick Family Funeral Services of West Seattle. (Clay Eals)Click image above to download the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board minutes from April 19, 2017, regarding Bleitz Funeral Home.Click image above to download the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board designation report for Bleitz Funeral Home, April 24, 2017.Drawing of Bleitz Funeral Home, 1921. (Emmick Family Collection)Cars outside Bleitz Funeral Home. (Emmick Family Collection)Casket letter, 1929. (Emmick Family Collection)(From left) Jeanne, Lawrence and James Bleitz, children of Jacob Bleitz. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home, 1937. (Puget Sound Regional Branch, Washington State Archives, Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home, 1937. (Puget Sound Regional Branch, Washington State Archives, Emmick Family Collection)1958 Cadillac and Chrysler outside Bleitz Funeral Home. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home, Sept. 20, 1960. (Puget Sound Regional Branch, Washington State Archives, Emmick Family Collection)Irene Clay Bleitz, Jacob Bleitz’s wife, outside Bleitz Funeral Home, 1944. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home, 1981. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home, 1981. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home, 1981. (Emmick Family Collection)Casket room, Bleitz Funeral Home, 1981. (Emmick Family Collection)Staff atop entrance, Bleitz Funeral Home, 1981. (Emmick Family Collection)Jacob Bleitz’s embalming certificate, June 1900. (Emmick Family Collection)Jacob Bleitz’s cremation furnace patent, 1932. (Emmick Family Collection)Jacob Bleitz and daughter-in-law Ebba Bleitz, August 1937. (Emmick Family Collection)Larry Bleitz, son of Jacob, and Irene Bleitz, wife of Jacob, 1944. (Emmick Family Collection)Möller organ, Bleitz Funeral Home, 1930s. (Emmick Family Collection)Looking northwest: Bleitz Funeral Home at far left, Nickerson Street and Fremont Bridge. (Seattle Municipal Archives, Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz home, 1900 Magnolia Blvd. W. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz home, 1900 Magnolia Blvd W. (Emmick Family Collection)Thank-you letter, April 8, 1927. (Emmick Family Collection)1928 Reader’s Digest article, “Profiteering on Grief.” (Emmick Family Collection)Mortuary Management article on showroom recommendations, February 1930. (Emmick Family Collection)Financial accounting for Malan, 1936. (Emmick Family Collection)Financial accounting for Nebenfuhr, 1936. (Emmick Family Collection)Financial accounting for Repco, 1936. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz blueprint. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz blueprint. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz blueprint. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home casket and flowers. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home contract. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home staff, 1981, including Craig Emmick, wearing sunglasses, center. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home crying room. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home drawing. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home meeting room. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home podium and piano. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home reception room. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home chapel. (Emmick Family Collection)Bleitz Funeral Home waiting room. (Emmick Family Collection)Feb. 6, 1905, Seattle Times, p2.Jan. 5, 1906, Seattle Times, p4.Feb. 5, 1906, Seattle Times, p4.April 28, 1907, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p57.Oct. 16, 1908, Catholic Progress, p5.Feb. 9, 1915, Seattle Star, p9.May 27, 1915, Seattle Star, p5.June 3, 1915, Seattle Star, p5.June 10, 1915, Seattle Star, p3.Sept. 30, 1915, Seattle Star, p4.Nov. 14, 1916, Seattle Star, p4.Nov. 30, 1916, Seattle Star, p4.Dec. 21, 1916, Seattle Star, p4.June 21, 1917, Seattle Star, p4.Nov. 1, 1917, Seattle Star, p8.Sept. 12, 1919, Seattle Star, p25.May 21, 1920, Seattle Star, p11.May 18, 1922, Seattle Times, p27.March 27, 1923, Seattle Star.April 30, 1923, Seattle Star.May 20, 1923, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p84.Nov. 5, 1924, Seattle Star.Feb. 24, 1934, Seattle Times, p19.Feb. 26, 1938, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p20.April 24, 1938, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p55.May 31, 1938, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p8.May 14, 1938, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p14.July 11, 1938, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p15.Aug. 4, 1938, Seattle Times, p25.December 1939, Jacob Bleitz funeral notice. (Emmick Family Collection)Dec. 12, 1947, Catholic Progress.1964, Seattle Times. (Emmick Family Collection)May 25, 1968, Lawrence Bleitz obituary. (Emmick Family Collection)November 1983, Jim Bleitz obituary. (Emmick Family Collection)