Dates

• Existence: 1895 - 1984

Biography

Arthur Alfonsus Nordhoff was born July 29, 1895 to Edward and Josephine Nordhoff. His family founded the Bon Marche department store in Seattle, Washington. His father died in 1899, and he lived above the department store with his family until his mother remarried. He attended Queen Anne High School and the Univeristy of Washington in Seattle, and then Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Nordhoff joined the Army Air Service in 1917 and was commissioned as a second Lieutenant. He was then assigned to the 168th Aero Squadron, which traveled to the Western Front during World War I but never saw much action. He returned home and worked for his family's business. In 1941, Nordhoff founded the Bellevue (Wash.) Airport, though it did not become active until after World War II ended. Nordhoff served as President of Puget Sound Air Service, Inc., which operated out of the Bellevue Airport.

In 1920 he married Thelma Miller, and they had three children: Nancy, Maria, and Arthur E. Following Thelma's death in 1940, Arthur married Alice E. Sargent in 1942. Arthur Nordhoff died in Washington in 1984.

Biography derived from collection materials and records on Ancestry.com.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: