Donald Cadman Sr., 74, Dies; Was Electrician, Big-Band Lover

Donald Francis Paul Cadman Sr., a gently offbeat electrician and avowed big-band nut, kept Vashon Island home and business wiring and outlets humming along for 30 years through his Cadman Electric.

Many people trusted him with their house keys. He often would swing by and fix something for free.

"He could figure out anything and was very honest," said his friend Dick Schride. "He was also a very interesting guy. He could talk about everything. I wish everybody knew somebody like him."

Mr. Cadman had fulfilled the promise recognized when union locals in the 1940s named him Outstanding Electrical Apprentice in the State of Washington.

Mr. Cadman died Tuesday (Jan. 26) of prostate cancer. He was 74.

A regular at yard sales, where he snagged old records, speakers, cooking utensils, phones, calculators and watches, he was one of the island's "genuine characters," his family says.

"In the 1970s and 1980s, my friends came to the house to see him even when I wasn't there," said his daughter, Wendy Cadman of Seattle. "Older people came, too. He was just iconoclastic. It was hard to get him out of the house. He wouldn't go on a job if he didn't feel like it."

Born and raised in Portage, Wis., he took up golf at age 12, became good at it, then gave it up when he felt the game had become "too competitive," said his daughter.

"He still watched it on TV, though, along with `Monday Night Football,' " she said.

Mr. Cadman came west with friends in the 1930s to look for work and possibly join the military, but he was rejected for military service because he stuttered.

He married Wanda Moore, whom he later divorced, and soon went to work for her father, electrician C.G. Young of Holert's Electric, at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. He remained with the company 20 years, commuting to Whidbey and to Seattle shipyards.

He opened Cadman Electric on Vashon Island in 1963. His son Gary Cadman now runs the business.

From the start he was deeply involved in island life, fixing things for people and talking up musicians such as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. He was a walking encyclopedia of big band and Dixieland music, said his daughter.

But he wasn't a musician himself.

"He took up the trombone later in life and played it badly," said his daughter. "He would try to play at parties after imbibing because he was always a little shy. He'd never finish a song. He'd play a few bars, then fake it. But he had fun."

His favorite phrase, used on his tombstone, was "It's no big deal."

Also surviving are his children Dona Bradley, Dan Cadman and Don Cadman Jr., all of Vashon Island, and eight grandchildren.

A life celebration has been held. Remembrances may go to the Vashon Island Pet Protectors, P.O. Box 245, Vashon, WA 98070; or to Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association, Vashon, WA 98070..

Carole Beers' phone message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is: cbeers@seattletimes.com