A favorite saying of Harry Murfitt, 9125 35th Ave NE, was to invite friends & family to “come sit awhile” for fellowship.  Today Harry’s bench memorializes his life and his legacy in the Wedgwood neighborhood.

The new Wedgwood neighborhood in the 1940s

After the close of World War Two in 1945, Wedgwood in northeast Seattle grew with young couples who were establishing homes and families.  It was a neighborhood of “starter homes” built by developers like Albert Balch.  Homebuyers could choose from among many other builders with stock house plans.

Harry & Vera Murfitt, newlyweds of 1952, came to live in Wedgwood in fulfilment of their American Dream.  They had found secure employment in Seattle and could have their own house built at 9125 35th Ave NE.

From North Dakota to Seattle 

Harry Murfitt’s father Dennis was from England and his mother Hilma was from Sweden.  They pursued the Immigrant Dream of America and filed a homestead claim for farmland in North Dakota.  Harry was born in Ambrose, North Dakota, a railroad town on the U.S. border across from Torquay, Saskatchewan, Canada.  Grain shipments came across the border to reach the railroad station in Ambrose.

U.S. Border Station in Ambrose, North Dakota, as photographed in 1932. National Archives photo.

Young Harry was not content with life in his small town in North Dakota.  From early years Harry followed the next-generation dream of reaching Seattle, which he thought was the land of opportunity.  As a young man Harry took a series of jobs and worked his way westward toward Seattle.

At the outbreak of World War Two in 1941, Harry knew that there would be wartime production jobs. He went to Bremerton and was able to get a good job in the shipyard.  This job was a stepping-stone for Harry, to his next job.  After the end of the war, Harry got a job as a switchman in the Argo Yard of the Union Pacific Railroad in Seattle, 402 S. Dawson Street.  Harry spent the rest of his career working there.

Argo train yard Seattle, adjacent to Port of Seattle Terminal 18. Photo courtesy of Erik Morgenstern.

Life in the Wedgwood neighborhood

In the years of settling into Wedgwood in the 1950s-1960s, Harry & his neighbors enjoyed seeing one another’s home improvements, maintenance and landscaping projects.  Harry Murfitt was known to neighbors as a “fix-it man” who generously gave of his time to help with repairs.  He could fix anything.

Vera and Harry Murfitt in 1990. Photo courtesy of the Murfitt family.

In the last year of his life when he knew he was dying, Harry’s neighbors were deeply grieved and they wanted to let Harry know how much they appreciated him. He’d lived in Wedgwood for more than forty years and said that he wasn’t afraid of dying, it was just that he didn’t want to leave the neighborhood!

One lady who used to walk for exercise, had told Harry that it was hard to find a place to stop for a rest along 35th Ave NE.  From this thought and taking inspiration from Harry’s invitations to “come sit awhile,” Harry’s neighbors came up with the idea to create a commemorative bench.  In this way, Harry really would “stay in the neighborhood.”

One neighbor had a slab of marble, and together with Harry they designed and built the bench on one side of his yard, set back slightly from the sidewalk along 35th Ave NE.  In the final months of his life Harry could sit and watch Wedgwood go by.

Harry died in 1997 and his bench remains not only a tribute to his Wedgwood neighborliness but also a welcome rest at what is now a bus stop at 9125 35th Ave NE.

The Harry Murfitt “sit awhile” bench at 9125 35th Ave NE. Photo by Valarie.