A. Harold Tomlinson, Investor; Once Owned Large Laundry Firm

Nearly every weekend, A. Harold Tomlinson would drive eight blocks from his lower Queen Anne condominium to an older apartment building he owned atop Queen Anne Hill to tend the flowers.

He was proud of the building's landscape, ``and he just loved working in the ground,'' said his son, Timothy Tomlinson.

Gardening and golf were two of the recreations the elder Mr. Tomlinson enjoyed most after many years in the laundry and real-estate investment business.

Mr. Tomlinson, 70, died Saturday after suffering a heart attack at his Queen Anne residence.

A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Butterworth-Manning-Ashmore mortuary.

A native Seattleite and Franklin High School graduate, as a young man Mr. Tomlinson attended laundry school in Juliet, Ill., then followed his father, Albert, into the laundry business here. The family business, New Richmond Supply Laundries, established in Seattle in 1916, was in the downtown New Richmond Hotel.

Over the years, the family bought several area laundry businesses, consolidating those into a network that became Prim Laundry and Dry Cleaners.

``We had about 110 retails routes and 25 dry-cleaning stores,'' said Timothy Tomlinson.

The business was, in its heyday, the largest dry-cleaning operation in the city, including commercial and industrial divisions.

From the business acquisitions, Mr. Tomlinson became active in real-estate investments. After 1960, he devoted more time to property investment, and his holdings included a shopping center, and commercial and industrial properties.

Timothy Tomlinson said his father began to sell various divisions of the dry-cleaning business in the early 1970s. Timothy and his brother, Gary Tomlinson, acquired part of the operation and re-established the name New Richmond Supply Laundries.

At his death, the Mr. Tomlinson was board chairman of Tomlinson Inc. Real Estate Investment Co.

He was a past president of the Washington Laundry Owners Association and the All American Laundry Conference.

He was a member of the Washington Athletic Club, the 101 Club, the Broadmoor Golf Club, the College Club, the Seattle Yacht Club, the Tyee Club, George Washington Lodge 32 of the Masons, Nile Temple and the Royal Order of the Jesters. He also was a member of the Bermuda Dunes (Calif.) Golf Club.

Besides the two sons, both of Seattle, Mr. Tomlinson is survived by his wife, Jewel; daughters Chris Hogan, Susan Gorman and Kimberly Tomlinson, all of Seattle; and 11 grandchildren.

Also surviving are his 92-year-old mother, Elva Tomlinson; a brother, Bruce Tomlinson; and a sister, Shirley MacDowell, also of Seattle.

The family suggests memorials to Medic One or a charity of choice.