Longtime appliance salesman and business owner Fred Schwary dies at 88

 

Sean P. Nelson

THE MID-COUNTY MEMO

 

Family and friends in the Parkrose area recently mourned the passing of longtime salesman and business owner Fred Schwary on Jan. 16, 2002. Schwary was perhaps best known for his slogan, “Nobody beats a Fred Schwary deal,” in connection with his store, the Fred Schwary Appliance Center at 104th and NE. Sandy Blvd., said nephew Bill Bitar of Frank A. Bitar and Associates, a real estate development company at 99th and E. Burnside St.

Many thought of Schwary as the precursor to Tom Peterson. “He was on TV, he was very flamboyant, his building was full of signs. He was quite a promoter,” Bitar recalled. Born August 25, 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio, Fred went with his family to settle in Parkrose and attended Parkrose High School in the 1940’s.

He learned his first lessons about running a business during World War II, when he served as General Manager for L. M. Schwary and Sons, what was then the largest supermarket in town. Bitar still remembers how cigarette rationing led to long lines at the store.

In the 1950’s he went into the appliance business and founded the Fred Schwary Appliance Center on Sandy Boulevard. There he continued to be a dedicated businessperson and promoter, working late hours much of the time, Bitar said. Outside interests included the fact that he was a lifetime member of both St. Rita Catholic Church at NE 102nd and Prescott and St. Therese Catholic Church at 135th and Halsey.

His wife of 63 years Jean; his daughters Vickie O’Donnell and Elaine Kaady; 5 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren survive him. His last surviving sister is Patricia Kelloff out of a family of four brothers and three sisters. The family suggests that remembrances can be sent to the American Heart Association.