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Makovich

The Makoviches are one of founding families of Gig Harbor. Lee emigrated from Croatia in 1900. He was a fisherman aboard the purse seiner, the Advocate. He later became a businessman and philanthropic leader of the community. He was general manager of the Fisherman's Packing Corp. based out of Anacortes, Washington, and was a founding member of the Peninsula Light Co. He also served on the Gig Harbor School Board. Lee’s son, Lee Jr., would become the local historian and resident expert of Puget Sound’s maritime past, writing countless articles for newspapers and magazines about Gig Harbor’s fishermen, it’s fleet of wooden-hulled purse seiners, and the historic net sheds that line the harbor. WFL, GHPHS

Malich

John Malich was the patriarch of one of the earliest fishing families to settle in Gig Harbor. He was born in Premuda, Croatia and owned and operated the the purse seiner Glory of the Sea. He was a founding member and stockholder in the Washington Fisherman’s Packing Corp. WFL

Dumica Malich met John Lovrovich as a child in Croatia. After she immigrated to the United States, the two crossed paths once again in Colorado, where John worked as a miner and a bartender. They married and had a son, John Jr. In 1910, they decided to move to Washington, where both John and Dumica had family active in the nascent commercial fishing industry of Gig Harbor. John begain fishing with the Ross family and the couple had several more children: Dominic, Tony, Peter, Mary, Millie, Nick & George. In 1928, John acquired his own boat, the Brac, named after the Island of his birth, off the coast of Croatia. All of John and Dumica’s sons followed in their father’s footsteps. At first, they worked on boats owned by others in the community. In 1948, Tony, Dominic, and Nick purchased the Wisconsin with their borhter-in-law. George bought the Sea Gem. Several of George’s sons also followed him into the business and purchased boats of their own, operating them out of Southeast Alaska. In 1971, Dumica’s son Tony purchased a gillnetter and worked it with his sons. (source: Lee Makovich) GHPHS

Maloney

William and Annie Maloney move to Rosedale from Ontario, Canada and established a homestead near the lake that would bear their name. They farmed their land and helped build the Rosedale church. They adopted a son, Frank, and were joined in Rosedale by William’s mother, Mary Ann. William’s brother, Thomas, moved to Rosedale after retiring from an active public life. He served as mayor of Sumner, chief of police in Tacoma, and warden of McNeil Island Penitentiary. In 1923, Frank married Helen McLoughlin. Helen had been abandoned as a child and was later adopted by Lena and William McLoughlin. The McLoughlin family moved to Artondale around 1907, hoping to cure Helen of her tuberculosis. GHPHS

Frank Maloney and Dave Svinth were founders of the Wollochet Bay Oyster Company in 1935. They planted their oysterbeds in the tidelands at the head of Wollochet Bay, where oysters were fattened by two freshwater creeks. They kept the planted oysters separated for optimum, single growth. Frank’s wife, Helen, who kept their books, recalled watching her husband walk out from their house with a lantern during the night-time low tides and carefully move the mollusks apart so that they wouldn’t attach to each other. Bathed and nourished by the creeks’ outflow, the oysters developed into a top quality delicacy. They were enjoyed by everyone, and business quickly grew. Frank and Dave sold freshly-opened oysters for 20 cents a pint to anyone who stopped by their water-side sucking house. They also had a wholesale business with the recently opened Gig Harbor Safeway and a direct-delivery route to homes in the North End of Tacoma. (HHM blog, 5/29/12) HHMA

Malony

Harry Malony was a reliable source for small boats for half a century. Helived in a home he called Camp Sleepy Hollow, a hundred feet above his boat shop south of the sand spit at the harbor’s entrance. His boats were built of quality cedar and ranged from twelve to sixteen feet. The son of a man who built the sleek interiors of Pullman Cars, Malony began building boats about 1910. He estimated that he turned out aound 600 in the course of his long life. He also made wooden herring rakes and wooden spoons for attracting salmon, which became known as Malony spoons BK/93

Markovich

Nick Markovich is one of the elder statesmen of Gig Harbor’s fishing fleet. Markovich, who was born and raised in Gig Harbor, comes from a long line of fishermen. “I’m connected to two pioneer families,” the 82-year-old fisherman said, looking down at the harbor from his cozy dining room, his wife, Phyllis, at his side. “My great grandfather was a Novak. Lee Markovich, Sr. was my grandfather.” Markovich began purse-seining for salmon with his dad at the tender age of 14. That was back in 1942. “When I first started fishing there were more than 40 seiners (boats) in Gig Harbor. We had the most purse seiners of any port in the region — more than Seattle or Bellingham or Tacoma or anywhere,” he said with a grin. When they weren’t out fishing, the fishermen hung their nets and did repairs in net sheds all along the shore of the harbor. Back then, Markovich said, there were 23 docks with net sheds on the water, plus three more net sheds in people’s backyards. He listed them one-by-one starting at the mouth of the harbor: “First was Peter Skansie’s shed, then Babich, Tarabochia and then Andrew Skansie’s shed.” That shed, which Andrew Skansie built and shared with his brother Vince, is 100 years old this year. The city is planning a community celebration of the Skansie brothers’ net shed on May 1st. Next along the shoreline was the Vlahovich shed. “Then John Skansie’s, Dorotich’s, the Ross brothers’ shed, then my great grandfather John Novak’s shed.” The list went on and on with other familiar – mostly Croatian – names: Glilch, Stanich, Malich, Castelan/Jerkovich, Castelan/Markovich, Ancich, Ivanovich, Bujacich, Gilich, Marin/Obervich, Naderlin/Skarponi, Shulich/Skrivanich, and Perovich. Three more net sheds were on land, Markovich said – Janovich, Nick Babich and Gerald Crosby had their sheds in their backyards. Not everyone had his own shed. “Lots of us hung our nets in someone else’s shed,” he said. “We shared each others’ places. Our family’s shed was actually owned by Castelan.” In those days the nets were made of cotton, which rotted after three or four years of use. To preserve them and slow the deterioration, the nets were dipped in hot coal tar, then rung out and hung or spread to dry. Then they had to be cleaned every couple of weeks. “That was the worst part of fishing – tarring the nets,” Markovich said. Once the nets were in the water, the saltwater helped to loosen up the tar, so the nets got softer and easier to use as the season wore on. “But they had to be re-tarred every year before we left to fish.” Markovich fished with his father until 1958, when his father died. “Nick had lots of boats, but his first one was his dad’s boat, Saint Rocco,” Phyllis Markovich said. “When I started with my own boat in 1958, I bought new nets,” Nick Markovich said. “I went to Seattle Marine and ordered a complete set. It cost $6,000 back then. I told the fellow I’d pay him after the season was over. That was just fine with him.” “Nick paid him back the whole amount the very first year,” Phyllis Markovich added, with obvious pride. During all the years Markovich purse seined, he never had to look for a crew. “Most of the fellows in the family helped on our boats,” she recalled. “Nick’s uncle, his brother, his brother-in-law and a couple of sons. He had the best crew on the Puget Sound.” “Everyone could sew a net and everything,” Nick Markovich added with a smile. “I hardly had to do anything but give orders.” Markovich purse seined every year until 1973, when he sold his last seiner, “Wonderland,” and took up gill netting. For the next 20 years, he gill netted every year until he retired at age 65. “We mostly went up to Southeast Alaska,” Phyllis Markovich said. “I usually went with him, because you didn’t need a big crew with gill netting. It was just him.” When he retired from fishing in 1993, Markovich said, he didn’t miss it at all, what with all the regulations and changes in the industry. But all in all, it has been a wonderful life, he added. “I couldn’t have grown up in a better place,” he said, looking away to hide the tears in his eyes. (source: Kitsap Sun, 4/10/2010)

Marzan

Albert J. Marzan came to the Arletta area from Germany in the mid-1800s. He married Constance Huselby, a German immigrant. Albert and Constance had a son, Albert H. and a second child who died in infancy. Albert served as director and clerk of the Arletta School District. He was a charter member of the local Warren Hall Men’s Improvement Club and a partner in the Hales Pass & Wollochet Navigation Company. After Constance died, Albert married a neighbor, Mrs. Bollen, a widow with several children, including Arthur, Mae & Harry. Mae moved to Hawaii in the late 20s where she taught school and married an army officer. When he died, she married a Russian army officer. They lived in Modesto, near Albert H.’s ranch. The Bollen boys left Gig Harbor. Arthur became an engineer for Boeing and Harry became a commercial fisherman out of Anacortes. (source Keith Marzan) GHPHS

McIntyre

Frederick was one of six children born to David and Hannah McIntyre. Two of his siblings succumbed to scarlet fever, while Frederick, Artemus, Frona and Louisa survived. Shortly after David returned home from the Civil War, he died in a tragic accident while helping a neighbor fell a tree, leaving Hannah and the children with little means of support. Hannah sent Frederick and Artemus to live with relatives while she, Frona and Louisa moved in with Hannah’s parents. After Hannah’s mother died, Hannah and the girls moved to Wisconsin to live with her older brother. Shortly thereafter, she called for Frederick and Artemus to join them. While in Wisconsin, Frederick married Gertrude Strebe and they had their first son, David. Frederick’s brother Artemus married Bertha. In 1901, a tornado destroyed the sawmill where Frederick worked. Hearing of opportunities out west, the family decided to sell some of their possessions and head for Washington. Frederick went first, joined by Gertrude and David, then Artemus, Bertha, Frona, Louisa and Hannah. Frederick purchased 13 acres in Rosedale and a home on Henderson Bay. He worked as a logger, 10-hours a day, six days a week. His first son died from severe burns after a tragic accident when he was just six years old. Frederick and Gertrude had 9 more children after David: Wesley, Chester, Violet, Hannah, Lester, George, Olive (Fuqua), Elma (Burnett) and Earl. Gertrude kept busy caring for the children. She carried water to the house by the bucketful, washed clothes on Mondays, ironed on Tuesdays, and scrubbed the floors every Saturday. Her only recreation was sewing, which she loved. After Frederick’s death, all of the boys helped support the family. Lester, the youngest, got a job on a chicken farm as soon as he graduated from the 8th grade. Earl became a father figure to the younger children. He was a hard working logger and loved to hunt and fish. Violet married Harold Roby in 1925. They had two children: Milton and Loretta. Violet died while giving birth to their third child. Frederick’s mother Hannah remarried George Kenny, who had a cabinet shop on North Harborview Drive. Her daughter Frona married Walter Sutherland, also of Gig Harbor. (source: Ellen Gauthier of Rosedale) GHPHS

McLean

Captain Daniel McLean was a Civil War veteran. He and his first wife, Magadeline Alf, settled on 95 acres in Rosedale in 1884. Their eldest son was Donald. The McLean home was the unofficial community center among neighbors; hosting meetings, potluck dinners and dances, when a fiddler could be found. Magadeline was the area’s first postmistress (1883-1887) before the Rosedale Post Office was built in 1887. Daniel petitioned Washington Governor Newell for a schoolhouse to be built on land he donated to the community. The petition was granted and construction began in 1884. Megadeline died in 1887, along with an infant son. Daniel later married Sarah Cooper. They had a daughter, Mildred. After Daniel’s death, Sarah and the children moved to Tacoma, and later British Columbia. The land for the Rosedale Cemetery was donated by Sarah, according the wishes of her late husband. (source: A History of Pierce County Washington ) BK/52, GHPHS

Moller

Rudolph Moller and his sister Marie arrived to the United States from Busum, Germany around 1894. Their immigration was financed by the inheritance from an uncle. They settled at Sunrise Beach, Gig Harbor, near their cousin, Herman Claussen. A year later, siblings Henry and Katherine arrived to find that Marie had eloped and Rudolf had gone to Alaska in search of gold. Their mother, Caroline Moller, joined her children in Gig Harbor in 1906. Upon his return from Alaska, Rudolph married Matilda Tollefsen. In 1900, they established a homestead on his property in the sloping wilderness above Sunrise Beach. They had five children: Margaret, Gerhard, Caroline, Norman and Rudolph Jr. (Rudy). Henry married Anna Kuhn, who was also born in Germany. They too settled at Sunrise Beach. Henry and Anna had four children: Madeline, Henry Jr., Hubert & Carl. Katherine and Marie lived with their husbands in west Seattle. In 1974, the Moller families donated 30 acres of their original homestead to Pierce County, creating Sunrise Beach Park. (source: Jean Sather) GHPHS

Muri

Elias Muri came from Norway. He lived in North Dakota where he ran a general store. His wife, Sarah Ellingson, was also Norwegian. Elias and Sarah had no children of their own. In 1908, the couple adopted their niece Amanda Strand. Amanda’s mother, Anna (Elias’ twin sister), died giving birth to her, the last of seven children. Amanda’s father was unable to care for her and so Elias and Sarah adopted the infant. They also adopted Amanda’s half-sister Clara. Elias moved his family to Washington state. He eventually settled in Cromwell, Gig Harbor and established a farm at Sunny Bay. With his neighbor, Frank Samuelson, he diverted water from a local creek into a storage tank. The water was used to irrigate Muri’s fruit trees, including a prized apricot orchard, and Samuelson’s berries. The water was also piped into their homes. The Muri girls enjoyed bonfires on the beaches, roasting potatoes and corn over the hot embers. They fished in Muri Creek at Sunny Bay using string and a pin. Amanda graduated from Gig Harbor High School, attended business college in Tacoma and pursued a career in court reporting. She met and married Henry (Hank) Ericson in 1936. Henry was born in Tacoma in 1903. He entered the navy when he was 17 and later worked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, until his retirement. They had four sons Donald, Allan, Mark, and Earl. The Sunny Bay homestead remained in the Muri family until it was sold in 1958. (sources: Cromwell Memories, Gladys Para, Earl Erikson, Betty Hansch) GHPHS