Edward H. Sodden

Edward H. Sodden, 72, passed away February 10, 2016 in Olympia, Washington, his home of 56 years. He was born August 31, 1943 to William and Loretta Sodden in Kirkland, Washington. After graduating high school, he went on to train in upholstery, interior design, drafting, blue print reading, CAD system and accounting. He owned and operated Capitol Upholstery. People considered Ed to be a dear friend and felt blessed to know him. They thought he was funny and they loved his sense of humor and photography. He enjoyed breeding and raising German shepherd dogs and was a member of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Washington State. He also enjoyed photography, vintage cars, hot rods, landscaping, and bonsai trees. Ed was predeceased by his parents, and sisters, Loretta Jean Nerney and Sally Sue Oldham. EULOGY: We are here today to celebrate the life of Edward H. Sodden who passed away peacefully on February 10, 2016. He was born to Loretta and William in Kirkland and is preceded in death by his mother, Loretta, father William and his two sisters Loretta and Sally. He is survived by his brothers William Sodden, Albert Sodden and Kenneth Corcoran as well as many other family members. Ed had many talents, interests and hobbies. He had a true love for hot rods, motorcycles and vintage vehicles. He enjoyed going to car and drag races at the Seattle International Raceway and the Good Guy’s car show. He enjoyed going to local car shows and talking about his own hot rod to other car enthusiasts. He started at a very young age building his own Hot Rods with his brothers. His mother and dad owned and operated the first towing company in Seattle, Bills Towing. A few years back, Ed was able to purchase a truck almost identical to his dads first towing truck. He was so proud of this truck and took much joy in purchasing it and driving it back to Olympia at a whopping 35 miles an hour. Ed also bred and raised AKC German Shepherds. He enjoyed attending local fairs such as Lakefair, the Puyallup Fair, and going to the Ellensburg Rodeo. Whenever he could, he would visit Las Vegas. He also enjoyed roses and landscaping, as well as the artful hobby of growing and pruning bonsai trees Ed began his 56-year long career as a Master Upholsterer when he took an upholstery class from Olympia High School in 1962 After high school he worked at Tresner & Sons upholstery as an apprentice. From May 1965 to November 1970, he worked at Boeing doing the design work for the first fabrications for all of the interior parts of the aircraft. He designed new parts from engineering specifications, making and proving patterns for the production shop. During this time he helped to create the escape slide. Because of the security clearance he obtained, he was able to go throughout all of the Boeing plants. Ed was one of the 50,000 Boeing employees who were called “The Incredibles,” who made aviation history by building the 747 — the largest civilian airplane in the world — in less than 16 months during the late 1960s. Ed was well known in the Olympia area, and by many Interior designers, for his workmanship and creativity. He owned and operated Capitol Upholstery, which was located in the same block of downtown Olympia as his mother’s business, Loretta’s Café. He moved his business to his own property after his downtown location was torn down and replaced with the new senior center. He also owned and operated a mobile upholstery unit and did upholstery work from Canada to Portland. Some of his clients included working with Tully Craft Boats, IHOP, Denny’s Restaurant in Puyallup and Spanaway, Mayan Mexican Restaurants, Pacific Laser & Eye Clinics, Claris, City of Olympia and several other medical facilities as well as non-commercial work. Ed could fabricate any custom piece of furniture, requiring upholstering. Many designers hired him for his vision of what an item could look like before it was reupholstered. He prided himself in being a perfectionist and in pleasing every customer he worked for. Nothing made Ed more proud than receiving the appreciation from customers when he completed their upholstery jobs. Ed was so very proud when he earned his 3-year teaching degree in September of 2001 at Bates Tech College while also teaching an Automotive and Boat upholstery class from 1992 to 2004 . Ed also took classes in Interior design, Blue print design, Windows software Accounting and Auto cad. He could operate and repair any sewing machine and various other tools. He would also attend swap meets around the state of Washington to sell a paint stripper and rust remover. Ed had no plans to retire and continued to do upholstery work until he passed away. So the next time you sit down in a restaurant for your favorite meal, order a cup of coffee and raise a toast to Ed. You may be sitting on one of the thousands pieces of custom upholstery work he did throughout his life. Please leave memories of Ed or condolences for his family in the Guestbook below.