Remembering Rick Redman

Remembering Former CEO & Chairman of the Board Rick Redman

Richard Clark Redman, born March 7, 1943 in Portland, OR, passed away peacefully at home in Seattle, WA on September 30, 2022.

Rick attended Blanchet High School where he was a three-sport athlete and a high school All-America selection in his senior year in 1960. Rick was recruited to play football at the University of Notre Dame but in a fateful change of mind late in the process, chose the University of Washington.  Rick pledged the Theta Chi fraternity.  At Washington, playing guard, linebacker and punter, he helped lead the Huskies to a conference championship and a Rose Bowl berth in the 1963 season. He was named consensus first-team All-America in both 1963 and 1964. He was also an All-Conference and All-Coast selection those two seasons.  He was a member of the fourth class of the Husky Hall of Fame in 1982, one of the first 10 UW football players so honored, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

Selected by the Eagles in the NFL Draft and the Chargers in the AFL Draft in 1965, Redman signed with San Diego, where he spent nine seasons (1965-73) where he both played and coached the linebacker position, making the AFL All-Star team in 1967. In 1974, he played for the Portland Storm in the inaugural season of the World Football League.

After retiring from the NFL, Rick settled permanently in Seattle where he joined his stepfather’s company, Sellen Construction.   Rick ascended to the roles of President, CEO and Chairman of the Board during his 34-year tenure at the company, helping Sellen grow and gain prominence in the Seattle area.  Sellen’s local projects include major campus additions at Swedish Medical Center and Seattle Children’s Hospital; Hec Ed Pavilion, the Conibear Shellhouse and the Foster School of Business/PACCAR Hall at the University of Washington; numerous cultural and civic projects including ACT Theater, Paramount Theater, Seattle Art Museum and its Olympic Sculpture Park, the Museum of Flight, the Museum of History and Industry, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation campus as well as a number of office buildings for Amazon and Microsoft.

Rick was a community leader, serving in volunteer roles on the University of Washington Tyee board, the Pacific Northwest Ballet board, the Safe Crossings board, and as a Trustee at Seattle University.  He was also a generous philanthropist, supporting scholarships for student-athletes at the UW, contributing to a wide variety of local non-profits, and serving as Chairman of the United Way of King County campaign.

Rick loved to golf and was a longtime member at the Seattle Golf Club.  Rick also loved to cook, fish, and hunt with his friends at the Swinomish Gun Club.  Rick was a member of the Seattle Tennis Club and University Club.

Rick is survived by sisters Patt Sellen (John Johnston) and Mary Redman-Hill (Larry); first wife and mother of his 3 children Elaine Ethier; son Scott Redman (Shawn); daughters Erica Dorland (David) and Angela Redman (Patrick Chinn); wife Jennifer and her son Mitch Johnson (Jessica).  He also leaves 13 grandchildren: Sage and Reed Redman; Emma and Truly Dorland; Willa and Townes Chinn;  Alexa McKallor; Julia, Per and Ella Anderson; Johnnie Johnson, Tasia Mamon and Tatum Yarbrough. Rick was preceded in death by his father, Herb Redman, mother Gretchen Sellen, and stepfather John Sellen.