For many Fred Meyer employees and customers, walking into the Redmond store will never be the same since Harry Martin died last week.

Harry, as he was simply known at Fred Meyer, spent a couple of hours at the store nearly every day since it opened in November 1999.

He could usually be found eating lunch at the deli, visiting with various Fred Meyer employees, or sitting on the bench between the customer service desk and Washington Mutual Bank, near the store’s main entrance.

Harry’s favorite seat is now occupied by a wreath of flowers with a message that reads, ”In loving memory of Harry.”

He died of a heart attack last Tuesday at the age of 96.

The store plans to honor Harry’s memory by hanging a plaque on that bench, said Store Manager Cindi Mohr.

”We were all convinced that that was where he’d spend his last moments; that he’d fall asleep there and not wake up,” said Maria Weber, a friend of Harry’s who works at the deli counter.

For now, the people of Fred Meyer are still adjusting to life without a man employees described as a Fred Meyer ”icon,” ”mascot” and ”fixture.”

”You knew him, didn’t you?” Ericka Schroeder called from behind the customer service counter to Tim McLaren, a security guard at Fred Meyer.

”How could I not?” McLaren said.

Some customers were so used to seeing Harry around the store, they assumed he worked there.

”When they heard he died, customers asked me how long Harry worked for Fred Meyer,” Weber said.

Though well into his nineties, Harry moved around the store quickly and energetically, according to store employees.

According to his obituary, Harry was born in New York state and served in the Army during World War II. He moved to Terrebonne in 1971 from San Francisco.

Weber, who was with Harry at the St. Charles Medical Center-Redmond when he died, described him as witty, even in the last moments of his life.

”He was always a ham,” she said.

Joann Hiner, who works at the customer service desk across from where Harry used to sit, laughed as she recalled his affection for women.

”Anytime a heavy-set girl walked by, he would go like this,” Hiner said, moving her hands in the shape of an hourglass. ”And he’d say, ‘I like ’em like that,’ and we’d say, ‘we know you do, Harry.’ ”

”He definitely flirted with all the girls,” Schroeder added.

Fred Meyer employees insist that Harry’s charm was not limited to women.

”He was a chuckle,” McLaren said with a smile. ”When I was in a bad mood, I’d try to be around him, because I knew he’d make me laugh.”

Lily Raff can be reached at 541-617-7836 or lraff@bendbulletin.com.