Eric Pardy's Creativity Sailed On Model Ships

Eric W. Pardy made stylish lamps at his shop on Third Avenue South, and for 20 years gave interior-design advice to customers of the old Del-Teet Furniture store on Capitol Hill.

But when that work was done, he turned to what gave him lifelong joy: creating paintings of ships and crafting museum-quality model ships. His lovingly researched paintings and models are in museums as well as private collections.

One model of the HMS Resolution, the ship Capt. James Cook used to explore the South Seas and the Alaska coast, was commissioned by former Secretary of the Interior Walter Hickel to display at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage. And Mr. Pardy's models of the Tonquin, sent by John Jacob Astor from New York to found a fur-trading post in Astoria, Ore., are in museums in Astoria and Portland.

"The thing about his ship models was that they were crafted to appear to have been to sea," said his wife of 50 years, Frances Pardy of Seattle. "Rust runs down the side. The scuppers overflow bilge water," and the sides show scuffs where anchor chains would have rubbed. "He loved the sea and loved his work."

Mr. Pardy died Friday (Oct. 9) of the effects of a stroke. He was 85.

Born into a family of nine boys on Twillingate Island near Newfoundland, he sketched and whittled as he watched fishing schooners sail by.

He taught school, then served with Canada's Royal Air Force in Britain and Belgium during World War II.

In the late 1940s he moved to Seattle, trained in interior and industrial design, and graduated from the Burnley School of Art in 1948. He did art restoration, perfectly matching a painting's colors and textures.

When he moved into interior design and furniture sales, he could not find lamps he liked, so he designed them himself. His fixtures graced the University of Washington and Seattle's Westin Hotel.

He retired 20 years ago but continued doing models and paintings.

One of his favorites was an old model of the 225-foot USS Hartford, the flagship of Adm. Daniel Farragut. He had built the model by kerosene lamp on his kitchen table in Newfoundland, from plans published in the Journal of Science.

Other survivors include his children Steve Pardy, Cathy Regele, Peggy Uskevich and Dan Pardy, all of Seattle; and Charlotte Grove of Auburn; and eight grandchildren.

There will be an informal gathering at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Chelan Cafe, 3527 Chelan Ave. S.W., Seattle.

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