Born in Marshall, Minnesota, on July 19, 1918, Edward Leonard Cushman received his formal architectural education at the University of Minnesota where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1942. During the early war years, he was stationed in the Panama Canal zone and was then transferred to Seattle in 1944 to work for the Boeing Company. Reportedly Cushman completed some graduate work in city planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1949) but never received a formal degree from them.

In Seattle Cushman worked for architect George W. Stoddard, and then took a job with the architectural firm of Bassetti & Morse. He continued to gain other experience by working for the firm of Mallis & DeHart before deciding to open his own independent practice in 1954.

Projects include the Charles & Meribah Smith House (1950) in Bellevue (with Van Horne & Van Horne); the Herzl Religious School Building (1956) in Seattle; the Weinstein Cabin (1957) in Dungeness; the Miesian style Patashnik House (1959) in Kirkland; the In-Town Motel (1957); the Butler House (1960) in Seattle; the Alki Sands Apartments (1963); the Alki and Greenlake Spud Fish & Chips Restaurants (1959-60) in Seattle; the Temple Beth Israel (1960) in Aberdeen; and the Roe House (1962) in Shoreline.

Cushman took on an additional partner, Donald A. Woolfe, in the late 1960s but shortly thereafter suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed. This put an end to his architectural career. However he continued to be an avid art collector and gifted many of his important works to the Seattle Art Museum. Cushman died in Seattle on November 1, 2006.

– Michael C Houser