Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 6, Issue 11, November 2002

Copyright 2002 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article and photos below in your research. Be sure to quote the Seattle Sun as your source.

Neidigh left indelible mark on Fremont, Greater Seattle

By CLAYTON PARK

Jim Neidigh, a veteran of radio and television who later served as director of the American Diabetes Association of Washington and more recently as founding director of the History House museum in Fremont, passed away Oct. 2 in Spokane. He was 82.

He is survived by his second wife, Charlotte, whom he married in December 2000, shortly after retiring from History House.

Neidigh grew up on Queen Anne Hill where he befriended classmate Hank Ketchum, who later became famous as the cartoonist who created "Dennis the Menace."

Neidigh achieved fame himself in 1939 as "Stay-Up Stan, the All-Night Record Man" on Seattle radio station KXA. David Richardson's book "Puget Sounds: A Nostalgic Review of Radio and TV in the Greater Northwest" described Neidigh as "the first of the big personality DJs on Puget Sound radio."

In 1948, Neidigh left radio to try his hand at a new medium: television. He got a job selling commercials for Seattle's first TV station, KRSC, which was sold the next year and renamed KING-TV. Neidigh served as KING's general sales manager for 20 years. In 1973, he took a job as executive director of the American Diabetes Association of Washington, based in Fremont.

Neidigh once participated in a fund-raising stunt for the association by scaling "Mount Queen Anne" with mountain-climbing expert Jim Whittaker.

While at the American Diabetes Association, Neidigh became friends with Suzie Burke, the association's landlord. Upon retiring, he accepted Burke's offer to take a part-time job in 1994 as executive director of History House, a nonprofit museum she was involved in starting.

In a December 2000 interview with the Jet City Maven, Neidigh expressed pride in helping launch History House, but downplayed his role, giving most of the credit to Burke, the museum's board and volunteers. "I think we've done a marvelous thing in preserving the past. I was just lucky to be there and be a part of it," he said.

Neidigh's contributions were far greater than he let on, said Burke. "History House would not have happened without him and without his total commitment to make it happen," she said.

Burke recalls the time Neidigh agreed to appear on a TV talk show hosted by the late Peggy Ann Ganson. "He brought his History House materials but didn't realize that behind him there was a big sign that said 'Republican.' Jim was a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. When told about it later by friends, he remarked, 'I'll do ANYTHING to promote History House!'"

Paul Nordstrand, History House's current director, credits Neidigh as having been a mentor and friend.

While Neidigh, at times, could seem gruff his granddaughter's nickname for him was "Grumps" he had a great sense of humor and enjoyed showing off History House to visitors, Nordstrand recalls. "He loved the work he did here and he loved to work with people."

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For details regarding the memorial service for Neidigh, call History House at 675-1875.