November 21, 2000

Herb Bridge is 2001 First Citizen winner

Seattle jeweler and civic leader Herbert Bridge is the 2001 winner of the First Citizen Award, the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors honor for community and business accomplishments.

Bridge

He was honored for his "vivacious dedication" to the family-owned business, Ben Bridge Jewelers, involvement in United Way, and leadership for causes such as housing for low-income people, according to Craig Ellis, co-chair of this year’s First Citizen banquet.

The Bullitt family received the award last year.

The 75-year-old Seattle native will be the association’s 63rd First Citizen winner. The award will be given at a banquet scheduled for May 30, 2001, at the Westin Hotel.

Bridge’s family started a jewelry store in Seattle in 1912 and changed the name to Ben Bridge Jeweler in 1927. Herb Bridge served as an apprentice there while in high school. He and his brother Bob assumed management of the single store in 1955 and grew the enterprise to 65 stores in 11 states. The company earlier this year became affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company run by Warren Buffet.

Bridge is a member of the National Jeweler’s Hall of Fame.

He is also a senior admiral in the U.S. Naval Reserves. Bridge enlisted in the Navy in June 1942 after graduation from Franklin High School. He served in World War II and the Korean War and was an active reservist for more than four decades. He received two awards of the Legion of Merit and the Naval Unit Commendation.

As a member of the "Seventy-Niners," a distinguished group of World War II veterans, Bridge joins comrades at a gathering every year on Pearl Harbor Day. Also known as a "last man’s club," the group has a pact that the sole survivor inherits a bottle of cognac. Bridge stores the war souvenir in a store vault, removing it only for ceremonial inspections at the annual banquet.

Bridge, known as "Mr. Downtown," is also a founder of the local Better Business Bureau and the Alliance for Education. He has chaired five United Way division fund-raising campaigns. This year, he and his son Jon are co-chairs of an ambitious Seattle-King County effort to raise $100 million.

While serving as president of Seattle Downtown Association in 1980, Bridge helped spearhead the formation of Housing Resources Group to engage private businesses in tackling housing concerns. That organization is credited with creating more than 2,000 affordable housing units around Seattle.

Bridge and his wife, Shirley, will celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary in January. The couple has two sons and four grandchildren.