Omer Lloydgeorge Mithun (Architect)
Portrait of Omer Mithun, c. 1948; from DOCOMOMO WeWA, Architects
Aerial view of the L.C. Smith Tower, Seattle, c. 2016; from Google Maps/Street View
Exterior view from the south of the L.C. Smith Tower, Seattle, 1928; from the Seattle Municipal Archives, City of Seattle Engineering Department Photograph Collection, Item #5988
Exterior view of 1101 2nd Avenue Office Building, Seattle, WA, 2019. From Google Maps/Street View
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Male, US, born 1918-06-10, died 1983-03-22
Associated with the firms network
Branch, B.H., Architect; Mithun Bowman Emrich Group, Architects; Mithun Partners, Architects + Designers + Planners; Mithun and Associates, Architects; Mithun and Nesland, Architects; Mithun and Nesland, Ridenour and Cochrane, Architects; Mithun | Hodgetts + Fung; Mithun, Ridenour and Cochran, Architects; Naramore, Bain, Brady, and Johanson, (NBBJ); Wilson-Mithun Partners, Architects
Mithun enlisted in the US Navy during World War II, on 09/05/1942, serving until 06/03/1946. (See Ancestry.com,Source Information, Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011, accessed 10/01/2018.) Another miltary document listed a "date of precedence" in the US Naval Reserve of 08/17/1942. His rank was Ensign.
Architect, U.S. Navy, Bremerton Shipyards, Bremerton, WA, 1945-1946.
Draftsman, B.H. Branch, Architect, Bremerton, WA, c. 1946; Mithun, having a background in naval architecture, supervised ship construction and repair during World War II.
Draftsman, Naramore, Brady, Bain and Johanson (NBBJ), Architects, Seattle, WA, 1946-1947.
Partner, Wilson-Mithun Partners, Architects, Bellevue, WA, 1949-1952.
Partner, Mithun and Nesland, Architects, Bellevue, WA, 1952-1955;
Partner, Mithun and Associates, Bellevue, WA, 1955-1958.
Partner, Mithun, Ridenour and Cochran, Architects, Bellevue, WA, 1958-1960;
Partner, Mithun and Associates, Bellevue, WA, 1960-1984. the firm was known as "The Mithun Associates" from c. 1975 until 1983, according to former AIA Seattle Director, Marga Rose Hancock.
Mithun's firm changed names several times after Omer Mithun's death in 1983; it was known as "Mithun Bowman Emrich Group," "Mithun Partners," and finally just "Mithun." It moved from its long-time home in Bellevue to Seattle, WA, in 1990.
In 2010, Mithun Architects + Designers + Planners, maintained offices in Seattle, WA, and San Francisco, CA.
Assistant Professor, University of Washington (UW), Department of Architecture, Seattle, WA, 1947-1950.
Associate Professor, UW, Department of Architecture, Seattle, WA, 1950-1982.
Professor, UW, Department of Architecture, Seattle, WA, 1982-1983.
Member/Chair, Bellevue Planning Commission, Bellevue, WA, 1953-72.
Member, City of Medina Planning Commission, Medina, WA.
Mithun took the Oath of Office for the State of Washington Architect's Registration office in 1968 and 1973.
Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 04/1973. Mithun and fellow faculty member at the University of Washington's College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Phillip Jacobson (b. 1928), were elected to FAIA status at this time. (See "Two Named F.A.I.A. fellows," Seattle Times, 04/22/1973, p. 51.)
B.Arch., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN, 1942; graduate degree in naval architecture, University of Michigan (U of M), Ann Arbor, 1945.
The Mithun Family resided in a rental residence in the Bamer Addition of Marcus, IA. (Rent was $25 per month.) At this time, the household included a cousin, Myrtle Gendron (born c. 1915 in ND). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year:1930; Census Place:Marcus, Cherokee, Iowa; Page:11B; Enumeration District:0013; FHL microfilm:2340382,accessed 10/01/2018.)
They moved to Clinton, MN, in 1940, living in $15-per-month rental acccommodations.
While he was in the US Navy, he and Ruth spent a part of 1945 in Holland, MI. They had a house at 91 West 18th Street. (See Holland, Michigan, City Directory, 1945, p. 155.)
In 1948, he and his wife lived at 5116 Brighton Street in Seattle, WA. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1948, p. 940.)
Sigurd O. Mithun (born 07/16/1882in Norway-d. 09/26/1975 in Ramsey County, MN), Omer's father, worked as an auditor for a bank and lumber yard in 1930. (He managed a lumber yard in Clinton, MN, in 1940.) According to the US Census of 1930, he immigrated to the US from Norway in 1903, although US Customs documents indicated that he arrived aboard the S.S. Oceanic from Liverpool, England, on 08/20/1903. This document recorded that he and Louis Martin Mithun (born c. 1875 in Norway) arrived in the US from Bergen, Norway. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation, Year:1903; Arrival:New York, New York; Microfilm Serial:T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll:Roll 0385; Line:18; Page Number:49accessed 10/01/2018.)
Sigurd married Omer's mother, Lillian May Button, (born c. 1895 in ND), on 05/29/1916 in Fargo, ND. Lillian managed the household.
She and Sigurd had three children, James Oliver Mithun (born c. 1916 in IA), Omer and Rose M. Mithun (born c. 1929 in IA).
He married Ruth Eleonore Trueblood (born 03/24/1919-d. 04/13/2009 in King County, WA) on 04/23/1943 in Washington, DC. After Omer's death, she married Donald Klopfer on 07/10/1987 in KIng County, WA.
Biographical Notes
SSN: 473-20-0943.
Associated Locations
Marcus, IA (Architect's Birth)
OpenStreetMap (new tab)
Google Map (new tab)
Bellevue, WA (Architect's Death)
PCAD id: 2372
Buildings and other works
4406 140th Avenue SE House, Bellevue, WA Bellevue WA
Bellevue Medical and Dental Center, Bellevue, WA 1962 Bellevue WA
Bellevue Presbyterian Church, Bellevue, WA 1955 Bellevue WA
Benson Glenn Tract Housing, Renton, WA Renton WA
City of Bellevue, Fire Department, Station #1, Bellevue, WA 1976 Bellevue WA
City of Puyallup, City Hall, Puyallup, WA 2006-2008 Puyallup WA
Equinox Condominiums, Eastlake, Seattle, WA Seattle WA
Everwood Office Park, Office Buildings, Bellevue, WA 1976 Bellevue WA
Everwood Park Office Buildings, Bellevue, WA 1976 Bellevue WA
Fairview Avenue and Mercer Street Condominiums, South Lake Union, Seattle, WA Seattle WA
Grace Lutheran Church, Bellevue, WA 1963-1964 Bellevue WA
Heartline Apartments and Office Building, Pearl District, Portland, OR 2018 Portland OR
Kempton Downs Housing Development, Bellevue, WA Bellevue WA
Lurie House, Bellevue, WA 1952 Bellevue WA
Oregon Tile and Marble, Showroom, Seattle, WA 1987 Seattle WA
Perot Family Offices, Turtle Creek, Dallas, TX 2017 Dallas TX
Port Gardner Wharf, Everett, WA Everett WA
Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center, Bainbridge Island, WA Bainbridge Island WA
Radford Court, Seattle, WA Seattle WA
Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI), Approach Concept Store, Bellevue, WA Bellevue WA
Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI), Flagship Store #3, Seattle, WA Seattle WA
Reed, John Porter and Janet Marian, House, Bellevue, WA 1955-1956 Bellevue WA
Seattle Trust and Savings Bank, Office Building, Downtown, Bellevue, WA 1972 Bellevue WA
Smith, Lyman Cornelius, Tower, Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA 1912-1914 Seattle WA
Surrey Downs Residential Sub-Division, Bellevue, WA 1952-1954 Bellevue WA
Tally Building, Bellevue, WA 1976 Bellevue WA
The Meadows Residential Tract, Redmond, WA 1975 Redmond WA
Unico Properties Inhabit Model Apartments, Downtown, Seattle, WA Seattle WA
University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Lander, Edward, Hall #3, Seattle, WA 2012-2014 Seattle WA
University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Maple Hall, Seattle, WA 2014 Seattle WA
University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Nordheim Court, Seattle, WA Seattle WA
University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Student Housing, Phase 1, Site 33, Seattle, WA 2010 Seattle WA
Washington Aircraft and Transportation Corporation. Office Building and Hangar 1958
Washington Children's Home, Seattle, WA 1973 Seattle WA
Washington Mutual Savings Bank, Main Office #2, 1101 2nd Avenue, Downtown, Seattle, WA 1968-1969 Seattle WA
Washington State Bank, Bellevue, WA 1957 Bellevue WA
Washington State Bank, Branch, Bellevue, WA 1955 Bellevue WA
Pearson, Clifford A., "Building Types study 712: entry-level houses: beyond Levittown ", Architectural Record, 182: 1, 86-95, 01/1994. DOCOMOMO WeWA, Bellevue Modernism Tour Over the Bridge for Gracious Living, 6-7, 2003. Woodbridge, Sally, Montgomery, Roger, "Washington Children's Home, 1973", Guide to Architecture in Washington State An Environmental Perspective, 231, 1980. Cohen, Aubrey, "Affordable housing may come factory-built", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, E1, E4, 10/11/2007.
Corporate Campus Returns Home: Perot Family Offices, Dallas, TX Education: UW reinvents the dorm in $800M+ housing upgrade Honors Archive: Omer Mithun FAIA 1918-1983 Honors Archive: Omer Mithun FAIA 1918-1983 Mithun Mithun, Omer L. (1918 - 1983) Oaths of Office, 1854-2013 - Omer L. Mithun Omer L. Mithun, 1918-1983 Reinventing a Mid-Century Modern Workplace Seattle and San Francisco-based Mithun and Hodgetts + Fung of Los Angeles Merge to Expand National Integrated Design Firm