Résumé

Second Lieutenant, United States Army, Fort Lawton, Magnolia, Seattle, WA, 1955-1957.

Partner, Mel Streeter Architects, Seattle, WA, 1967-c.1973. The firm was known as "Melvin E. Streeter and Associates" in (See "Ground To Be Broken for Parish House," Seattle Times, 05/11/1968, p. 3.)

Partner, Streeter/Dermanis, Architects, Seattle, WA, c. 1973-1996.

Partner, Streeter Associates, Seattle, WA, 1997-2006.

Professional Activities

Member, City of Seattle, Planning Commission, Seattle, WA, 1989-2000.

College

B.Arch., University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 1949-1953.

College Awards

Streeter attended the University of Oregon on a basketball scholarship, 1949-1953;

Relocation

Born in Riverside, CA, Streeter spent his childhood in that city, where his relatives had resided since before 1910. His maternal great-grandmother, Mandy Decatur, born in GA, lived on Center Street in Riverside in 1910. At that time, she lived with Edward's grandparents Edward Streeter (born c. 1887 in GA-d. 05/10/1931 in AR) and Alice Decatur (born 08/1888 in GA) and Melvin's father Edward, then 3. Mandy, at age 60, worked as a washerwoman, while her son-in-law Edward was a waiter in a restaurant. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Riverside Ward 5, Riverside, California; Roll: T624_91; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0082; FHL microfilm: 1374104, accessed 09/25/2021.) The Decatur Family lived in the "822nd District of the GA Militia" according to the 1900 US Census, meaning they relocated to Riverside, CA, between 1900 and 1910. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Militia District 822, Bartow, Georgia; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0005; FHL microfilm: 1240179, accessed 09/25/2021.)

In 1930, before his birth, his parents owned a small house at 4461 Grove Avenue in Riverside. It had a value of $800, and the Streeters housed a boarder, Myrtle Taylor (born c. 1911 in KS), to add income. The Streeters also had a relative residing with them, Johnnie Norton (born c. 1921 in KS). He was listed as the brother-in-law of Melvin Streeter's father. Aside from their neighbors, the Ellison Family, who lived next door at 4743 Grove Avenue, the Streeters were some of the only African-Americans living in a predominantly white and Mexican-American neighborhood. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Riverside, Riverside, California; Roll: m-t0627-00278; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 33-47, accessed 09/25/2021.)

His parents dwelled at 4495 Grove Avenue in 1940. By this time, Melvin's younger brother Herman F. Streeter had been born. Their house at this location had an approximate value of $3,000. Again, they lived in a predominantly white neighborhood, with one black neighbor, the Ware Family, living nearby at 2859 Cottage Avenue. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Riverside, Riverside, California; Roll: m-t0627-00278; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 33-47, accessed 09/25/2021.)

Streeter died at his residence in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood.

Parents

Streeter's father Edward Decatur Streeter (born 11/26/1906 in CA-d. 09/30/1992 in Riverside, CA) was a railroad porter, his mother Eddie Mae Cleveland (born 11/20/1908 in TX-d. 09/23/1986 in Riverside, CA), a cook, married on 07/03/1928 in Santa Ana, CA. In 1940, Edward worked as a janitor for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, while Eddie Mae did not worl according to the US Census. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Riverside, Riverside, California; Roll: m-t0627-00278; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 33-47, accessed 09/25/2021.)

He had a brother, Herman Frederic Streeter, Sr., (born 05/09/1933 in CA-d. 07/30/1963 in Riverside, CA). Herman served as a Pfc. in the US Army Medical Service, enlisting on 06/25/1953 and was discharged on 05/17/1955. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis, MO; St. Louis, MO, USA; Applications for Headstones, 1/1/1925 - 6/30/1970; NAID: NAID 596118; Record Group Number: 92; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, accessed 09/25/2021.)

Spouse

On 07/30/1954, Streeter wed Kathy Gould Burgess (born c. 1932 in Salem, OR) in Eugene, OR., a woman whom he met at the University of Oregon. Their interracial marriage was one of the first in the State of Oregon, after the ban on such marriages was lifted three years previously. Streeter initiated a divorce which was granted on 05/24/1978. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington State Divorce Indexes, 1969-2014, accessed 09/25/2021.)

Children

Streeter and his wife Kathleen had four children: Douglas, an architect working in London, UK, who had plans in 2006 to take a leadership position in his father's firm; Jon, an attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area, living in Berkeley, CA; Ken, a Seattle-based screenwriter, and Kurt, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

Biographical Notes

Streeter was a member of Tabor 100, The Breakfast Group, and the Kiwanis Club of Seattle.

He died of amyloidosis, a rare auto-immune disease.