CMS:Dick Bendicksen
Richard W. Bendicksen, known as Bennie (or Dick), was a founding Connections Museum volunteer. Along with his wife Beverly, Dick and Bev were among the most active volunteers at the 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 the Teletype collection and toll displays.
Early life and military service
Richard W. Bendicksen was born in Tacoma, Washington 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 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 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 with the call sign "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 war, relaying service calls home. In 1984, Dick accompanied the Olympic Torch Relay 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 started volunteering regularly at our museum when it opened in 1986. Dick restored and maintained most of the museum's 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 telephone 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.