Harold Kean, 89, banked on building Seattle
 |
|
||||||||||
When Harold Kean went to work in 1932 for the Ballard savings and loan his father founded, the business was in bankruptcy and held less than $300,000 in assets.
The thrift eventually became Washington Federal Savings, today a $7 billion enterprise with 111 branches and a stock-market listing on the Nasdaq.
A significant force behind that growth was Mr. Kean, who died of pneumonia Sunday (March 3) at age 89.
His career thrived along with the tremendous population and housing booms of mid-20th-century Seattle. His major focus in life was helping the average person own a home.
"When housing prospers, the nation prospers," Mr. Kean would say, and he lived that belief with a passion that extended beyond his personal gain.
In the early 1970s, during the depths of the Boeing bust, Mr. Kean would drive his black Cadillac through the streets of Ballard at night, making his own inventory of substandard housing stock with a goal of improving it, then-Mayor Wes Uhlman recalled in a speech years later.
Mr. Kean once suggested a march on the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to protest the blight created by abandoned homes.
Eventually, local savings institutions expanded Mr. Kean's housing inventory into a citywide survey.
He also promoted mortgage loans requiring down payments of only 5 or 10 percent and private mortgage insurance that made more borrowers eligible for loans.
Mr. Kean attended Ballard and Richmond Beach high schools but did not take college courses until well into his career, said Beverly Kean, his wife for the past 23 years.
He was president of Washington Federal from 1950 to 1977. He served for several years as board chairman, then as company director until 1996. The work he began in the Depression earned him millions of dollars in company stock. He served as a director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle and was named Seattle's Businessman of the Year by KIRO-TV in 1962.
A passionate golfer, Mr. Kean saved a scorecard from 1983, when he shot a 73 at Sand Point Country Club. He cruised the San Juan Islands and enjoyed spending time at his Whidbey Island beach house.
"He was very thankful for living and enjoying the good life. He was a giver, and he lived life to the fullest," his wife said.
"He worked hard, and he played hard."
Mr. Kean also is survived by a daughter, Marilyn Kirkland of Bellevue; a sister, Jeannette Nelson of El Cajon, Calif.; and four grandchildren.
A celebration of his life will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Seattle Golf Club, 210 N.W. 145th St., Shoreline. Donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity, 306 Westlake Ave. N., Suite 210, Seattle, WA 98109.
Mike Lindblom can be reached at 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com.