Raymond Danz, Prosperous Man Who Never Forgot Poor Background

Raymond Danz, who became a successful and prosperous businessman, never forgot what it was like to be poor.

"He grew up poor and he never forgot what it was like not to have," said Rabbi Norman D. Hirsh of the Temple Beth Am in North Seattle, a longtime friend.

Mr. Danz, former co-owner of the United Fruit and Produce Co. in Seattle, and longtime Laurelhurst resident, died Sunday while at the Lake City Elks, an organization he joined 30 years ago and actively supported.

Mr. Danz, 73, died of heart-related problems and he had been in ill health for the past several years, according to his son, Ron Danz, of Bellevue.

Mr. Danz was born of immigrant parents and grew up in the Central Area near Providence Hospital, an area of Jewish residents. His family was poor, the whole area was poor, said Ron Danz.

Mr. Danz graduated from Garfield High School in 1937 and went on to the University of Washington where he received a degree in accounting in 1941. He put himself through school and helped his family, Ron Danz said.

Shortly afterwards, Danz joined the company that became United Fruit and Produce.

He started at the bottom and with "hard work and perseverance" rose to become one of the two owners of the company with Del Vanni, Ron Danz said. Mr. Danz sold his share of the business when he retired in 1986.

During the 1970s and into the 1980s, Mr. Danz represented his company and large buyers, such as supermarkets, in labor negotiations with the Teamsters, Ron Danz said.

During his life, Mr. Danz also was active in Democratic politics, serving as a precinct committeeman, and at least once attended the Democratic National Convention as a delegate from Seattle.

He also was active in the civil-rights movement and the anti-war protests when the United States was involved in the Vietnam War, Ron Danz said. Mr. Danz was a sign-carrying protester. "He felt strongly about the rights of the underdogs in those days," his son recalled.

Jewish activities were another interest of Mr. Danz. He raised money and was instrumental in getting the Temple Beth Am built and he was one of its early presidents, Ron Danz said.

B'nai B'rith, another Jewish organization, was another of Mr. Danz's interests. He was a charter member of the Cascade Lodge of the organization.

To Rabbi Hirsh, Mr. Danz's decency and caring were his outstanding virtues. "To me, the greatest thing was his ability to accept people the way they are. He was a man of genuine good will. There wasn't a mean bone in his body," Hirsh stated.

Besides his son, Ron, Mr. Danz is survived by his wife of 48 years, Susan; another son, Steve of Los Angeles; a brother, Herbert Danz, and sisters, Helen Borish and Ronaye Hamburger, all of Seattle; and three grandchildren.

The family requests that remembrances be made to Temple Beth Am or the Caroline Kline Galland Home or a charity of the giver's choice.

Funeral services were scheduled for 3 p.m. today at Green's Bellevue Funeral Home, with burial in Sunset Hills Memorial Park, Bellevue.