Contractor Jim Massart Dies At 70

In 1951, Jim Massart persuaded his dad to take a chance with the company business.

The Seattle plumbing contractor entered a bid on a government job on Whidbey Island that was $100,000 below the nearest competitor.

The Massarts won the job and completed it on budget. It was the first step in changing the decades-old family business from a strictly local operation into the Massart Co., formerly one of the largest mechanical contractors headquartered in the Northwest.

"He always wanted to be bigger than what his father ever could have imagined," said Jay Massart, his son. "He was out to grow the business to be the biggest."

James E. Massart died March 15. He was 70.

Mr. Massart split his childhood between Seattle and Grand Coulee, in Eastern Washington, where the family had moved to set up a family hardware and plumbing store.

Mr. Massart returned to Seattle with his father after a 1938 fire razed the business, claiming his mother's life.

After graduating from Queen Anne High School and serving four years overseas with the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, Mr. Massart returned to Washington state to continue his education and focus on the family business.

"He's of the old school, and everything was work," Jay Massart said. "He seemed real gruff. But he had a heart of gold for everybody at the same time."

Over the years, Mr. Massart helped expand the company's operations to Alaska, Hawaii, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.

Under his guidance, the company went from installing residential plumbing to laying natural-gas piping for entire towns and designing total systems for hospitals, office buildings and apartment complexes.

In 1951, Mr. Massart married Doris O'Leary. Together, the couple lived in neighborhoods throughout Seattle, rearing three children. Most recently, they lived in Richmond Beach.

When Mr. Massart wasn't focusing on his business or family, he turned his energy toward commercial, social and civic groups.

Mr. Massart was a member of more than a dozen area groups, including the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Young Presidents Organization, the Rainier Club, Seattle Rotary and the Knights of Columbus. He was dedicated to Providence Medical Center fund-raising efforts and served as a board member of Shoreline Community College.

Mr. Massart is also survived by his wife, Doris; son, Daniel of Seattle; daughter, Marie Miller, and her husband, Kas, of Washington, D.C.; and five grandchildren.

A funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Mark's Catholic Church, 18033 15th Place N.E., Seattle.

Remembrances may be made to the Providence Medical Center Foundation, P.O. Box 34008, Seattle, WA 98124-1008.