Joe Greengard
This is the story of Joe Greengard’s early years growing up in Seattle, shaped by his family’s German-Jewish roots that reached the city in the 1890s. Moving often between Madrona, Capitol Hill, and Madison Park, Joe’s childhood homes reflected both his father’s practical nature and the changing neighborhoods of Seattle’s Jewish community. From the Ellsworth Storey-designed cottage on Dorffel Drive to the spacious Madison Park house filled with fruit trees and family, each place held its own memories. Through these moves, Joe’s story captures the warmth of family life, the spirit of community, and the evolution of Jewish Seattle in the first half of the 20th century.
Our Early Homes
260 Dorffel Dr, Madrona (1929-1930), 3635 E Howell St, Madrona (1930-1934), 1610 20th Ave E, Capitol Hill (1934-1937), 3804 E Howe St, Madison Park (1937-1942), and 1562 E Garfield St, Capitol Hill (1943-1952).
My mother’s side of the family was German-Jewish and settled in Seattle in the 1890s. Mom’s father, Nathan Degginger, whom we called Papu, was in the liquor business with his partner and brother-in-law, Edward Friend. His father, Simon Degginger, joined the family in Seattle in 1895 and was a founding member of Temple de Hirsch. He came to New York from Germany in 1849. He had served for the North in the Civil War and had homesteaded in South Dakota.
My mom was born in Seattle in 1895. Dad was born in St. Paul and went to work there for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad at a young age. He eventually worked his way west with the RR and ended up in Seattle as the Assistant Treasurer. Mom and Dad met here and were married in 1925.
260 Dorffel Dr - Madrona
My mother’s side of the family was German-Jewish and settled in Seattle in the 1890s. Mom’s father, Nathan Degginger, whom we called Papu, was in the liquor business with his partner and brother-in-law Edward Friend. His father, Simon Degginger, joined the family in Seattle in 1895 and was a founding member of Temple de Hirsch. He came to New York from Germany in 1849. He had served for the North in the Civil War and had homesteaded in South Dakota.
My mom was born in Seattle in 1895. Dad was born in St. Paul and went to work there for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad at a young age. He eventually worked his way west with the RR and ended up in Seattle as the Assistant Treasurer. Mom and Dad met here and were married in 1925.
My sister, Merle, was born in 1927, and I was born in 1929. At this time, my parents lived in the Madrona neighborhood at 260 Dorffell Drive. It was a home with a reputation because one of the early Seattle Architects, Ellsworth Storey, had built two homes there, and we lived in the smaller back one. Although I was born there, we didn’t stay long.
Our family moved often as Merle and I were growing up. Dad believed in renting rather than owning. So as the family grew and the world changed, we often found ourselves in a new home in a new neighborhood and in a new school.
In some ways, the homes I grew up in and the neighborhoods they were in reflect the Jewish History of Seattle. Successive waves of immigrants each had their own characteristics. My mother’s side reflected the assimilationist German-Jewish pioneers. Temple de Hirsch was founded “in keeping with the times and on thoroughly American lines.” (Family of Strangers 106.)
We moved many times, but we never lived in Seattle’s predominantly Jewish neighborhood near Yesler Way and Cherry Street. It had kosher butchers, bakeries, produce, leather, general stores, and Orthodox synagogues close enough to walk to.
3635 E Howell St - Madrona
This was the home of my first memories. I was a one-year-old when we moved there, and I was in kindergarten when we left. Now it is all rebuilt with a street closed (taken over by the Epiphany School buildings and playgrounds).
My mom’s brother and his wife, Uncle Leonard and Aunt Marie, lived a block and a half up Howell Street. Those were still the days when all generations and members of families lived together. Up until he was married in 1934, Uncle Leonard, along with Mom’s parents, Dolly and her husband, Nathan, Papu, all lived with us.
1610 20th Ave N Crescent Dr - Capitol Hill
We moved to the Crescent Drive neighborhood in the middle of my kindergarten year. Because there was no kindergarten at what was to be my new school, Stevens, I had to wait out the rest of that school year at home. Then I began school all over again at Stevens in the first grade.
Crescent Drive is where I made early friends –Bruce Stern, my earliest lifelong friend; Jimmy and Mary Ellen Greenfield. Mary Ellen became one of the most influential political women in the country. She was the Political Editor of the Washington Post for many years and the best friend, confidante, and travel mate of Katherine Graham, the Editor/Publisher of the Post.
I went through grades 1 to 3, and we moved on to Madison Park.
3804 E Howe St - Madison Park
Our home at 3804 E. Howe St. was a large 4300 square foot Madison Park home. When I received some 1937 research papers on it, it listed the rent as $45.00 a month. No wonder Dad had always preferred to rent.
3804 was a large house and Dolly continued living with us until Aunt Marie died and then she moved to Uncle Leonard’s. Our yard was filled with fruit trees; two cherries, a plum, two apples and a grape vine over the garage. I used to climb the trees and eat the fruit or fill bags of it for Mom.
I started 4th grade at McGilvra School, a block away. There were lots of new friends. Jimmy Ladd, my closest friend, lived across 38th.
1562 E Garfield St - Capitol Hill
1562 E. Garfield was the first home Dad ever bought. It had been owned by Colonel Bickford and his wife. She had become crippled and they had a devoted attendant for her. The Colonel wanted the attendant to have a lifetime income from the mortgage. Dad bought the house and each month made the very reasonable mortgage payment to the attendant. It was a very fair and generous arrangement for everyone, and Dad couldn’t turn it down.
It was a big, beautiful house with two large Monkey Trees in front. The backyard went down a steep slope into the Arboretum. We had two narrow terraces at the top where we planted a victory Garden and grew carrots, radishes, tomatoes, squash, and even rhubarb. Merle and I tended it with Mom’s supervision. Dad grew beautiful roses in front of the house and Amaryllis in the basement.
The ‘corner grocer’ was only two blocks away, and I’d often have to go to the store to get a 10-cent loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, or whatever might be needed to finish preparing a meal.
1562 “is where I lived during my high school and college years. I lived here from 14 until I married at 23 years old.
A fun thing that stays in my mind is we’d get 2 or 3 cars in the street, all tuned to the same music station, roll down the car windows, and dance in the street.
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