George Weber, 89, Gentlemanly Giant Of Northwest Advertising

George Weber, half the team that brought the Northwest advertising agency Cole & Weber to prominence, was a study in harmony.

He related to clients that way, orchestrating ad campaigns for such clients as Boeing and Weyerhaeuser, and he made music that way, leading bands to pay his way through college and playing piano at parties to bring people together in sing-alongs.

"He was always fun to be around," said Donald Kraft, a colleague who called Weber a mentor.

"He taught me many things about the business, particularly the importance of ethics. One word a lot of people use to describe George Weber is `gentleman.' He was always considerate of others."

Mr. Weber died of a heart attack Saturday, Nov. 2. He was 89.

He grew up in his native Portland, going on jobs with his father, who was with City Sign. To pay tuition at the University of Oregon, Mr. Weber sang and led a band. After graduating in 1931, he joined Mac Wilkins & Cole Advertising Agency of Portland.

When the company opened a Seattle office in 1937, Mr. Weber moved here to manage it.

"With his open, warm personality and plenty of real advertising `smarts,' he built the largest agency in Seattle-Tacoma," recalled advertising rival Fred Baker. "I formed my agency in 1939 and never did catch up with him."

Mr. Weber became a partner in the firm, renamed Cole & Weber after Wilkins died in 1945. Arlyn Cole died in 1964, and Mr. Weber retired in 1972, but the agency retained the name those two made famous.

"He is a giant," said his daughter, Susan Gold of Los Angeles. "He was extremely organized, worked hard, was very diligent. He would say, `You learn your clients' business as well as you know your own, then work for them as you'd want someone to work for you.' "

Mr. Weber, who toted a portable piano around in the trunk of his Cadillac to play at parties, helped the agency develop long-term clients, Gold said.

In the community, he served as a director of Seattle Symphony, Friends of the Public Library, the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, Seattle World Affairs Council and United Good Neighbors, now United Way. He also enjoyed travel and was a Master Mason.

Mr. Weber continued to play piano and organ in later years, and after retiring, sold portable pianos.

"But our mother became ill with Alzheimer's," said his daughter. "He devoted himself to her care."

Other survivors include his daughter, Marilyn Blue of Seattle; his brother, Fred Weber of Lake Oswego, Ore.; his sister, Melva Bemis of Green Valley, Ariz.; three grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. His wife of 57 years, Lillian Evans, died in 1993.

Services were to be at 11 this morning at Butterworth Manning Ashmore Chapel, 300 E. Pine St.

Remembrances may go to the Alzheimer's Association of Puget Sound, 120 Northgate Plaza, Seattle WA, 98125; the Arthritis Foundation, 100 S. King St., Suite 330, Seattle, WA 98104; or the Children's Hospital & Medical Center Foundation, P.O. Box 5371, Seattle, WA 98105.