Ted Carrol, Retired Luggage Wholesaler

Theodore W. "Ted" Carrol, a joke-telling traveling salesman who expanded his father's turn-of-the-century Seattle luggage store into a widely respected wholesale operation, loved and lived his work.

He enjoyed the people, the merchandise and the excuse to see the country. His work in the luggage business also allowed him to fish in remote mountain lakes and bask on beaches.

"He traveled a lot," said his son Joseph Carrol of Bellevue, who now runs T.W. Carrol & Co. at Southcenter. "He went to all the Northwest states, and some of the lines he sold in Hawaii as well. He traveled to Alaska for six weeks twice a year from the end of World War II to 1976, when he retired."

Mr. Carrol died last Friday (April 9) of an aortic aneurysm. He was 92.

Born in Seattle in 1906, he grew up helping in the luggage store founded in 1900 by his father, George Carrol, a Russian-Jewish immigrant.

"It was the oldest luggage-and-leather goods store in Seattle," said his son. "The name is still in the sidewalk tile in front of where the store was on First and Occidental."

Mr. Carrol graduated from Broadway High School in 1924. He tried selling hair products and cosmetics as an independent sales representative in Washington, Montana, Oregon and Idaho.

Then, in 1936, he joined his father in the luggage business. After serving in the Coast Guard in Seattle during World War II, he took over his father's store. In the early 1950s, he made it a wholesale operation "because retail has ups and downs, but in wholesale, you have a much wider region," said his son.

"A lot of his customers would come in and say, `Tell me what I need. You know better than I do.' He was a good talker. He loved to talk."

After he retired, Mr. Carrol continued to travel; he even took an around-the-world cruise.

All his life he believed in honesty, service and his products. He had lived in the same house in the Seward Park neighborhood for 50 years. He was still cooking meals and driving into his 90s.

"He was upbeat but could be stubborn," said his grandson Gavin Carrol of Seattle, who lived with Mr. Carrol recently. "He knew what he liked. He'd cook a three-course dinner because I didn't cook up to his standards. He was quite a character."

Also surviving are Mr. Carrol's son Paul Carrol of Bellevue, and three grandchildren. His wife of 58 years, Dawne Carrol, died in 1998.

Services have been held. Donations may go to the Kline Galland Home, 7500 Seward Park Drive S., Seattle, WA 98118.

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