CMS:Dick Bendicksen

Overview

Servicing a model 15 Teletype, Jan 2003

Richard W. Bendickson, known as Bennie (or Dick), was a Connections Museum volunteer who created the Teletype exhibit. Along with his wife Beverly, Dick and Bev were among the most active volunteers at our museum from its founding in 1986. Dick's lifelong interest in amateur radio, along with his service as a radio operator in the US Army (1939 to 1945) and his long career in PNB's toll-test operations in downtown Seattle made him uniquely qualified to curate and maintain our TTY and toll displays.

Early life and military service

Dick Bendicksen was born in Tacoma in 1920. His parents, Agnes and Arnie Bendicksen, were Norwegian immigrants. After graduating high school in Tacoma, Dick joined the United States Army in 1939 as a radio operator. He first served at Fort Worden (located near Port Townsend, on Washinton State’s Olympic Peninsula) and then later in the Philippines. He was a sergeant with the Army's 248th Coast Artillery, 41st Division. He served until 1945.

Career at Pacific Northwest Bell

Dick joined what was then Pacific Bell Telephone in 1950 and worked primarily at the toll offices at 1122 Third Avenue in downtown Seattle. At the time, toll employees were required to be fluent in American Morse code as this was still used for communication (via order wire) to distant toll offices.

Amateur radio

Last licensed as N7ZL, Dick developed an interest in ham radio in high school that remained his passion throughout life. It connected him with friends around the world including direct conversation with the international space station. He participated in the MARS program during the Vietnam era, relaying service calls home. In 1984, Dick accompanied the Olympic Torch Relay Run as the radio operator in the communications van. Dick volunteered in Seattle and other areas to administer exams to potential amateur-radio applicants.

Personal life and museum involvement

Dick met his wife, Beverly Harper, at Pacific Northwest Bell and married in 1968. Both Dick and Bev retired in 1982 and immediately started volunteering at what was then The Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum. Both Dick and Bev were a constant presence at the museum. Dick restored and maintained most of our original teletype and toll equipment displays. Additionally, it was through Dick’s amateur radio contacts with Paul Turnham (G4VLS) and Roger Cooke (G3LDI) in the United Kingdom that resulted in the museum’s red call box coming to Seattle in 1995; what museum volunteers named “the Call Box Caper.”

Death

Dick died from congestive heart failure in 2006. He was 85.  Beverly preceded him, having died in 2004.