Family of Harriet Johnson and Thomas Fox
Harriett Catherine Johnson married Thomas Kenny Fox on 10 May 1929.
Harriett and Thomas’s children:
- Thomas Kenus (Bunson), born 1 December 1929 in Anchorage, Alaska.
- Mae Annette (sister), born 5 PM, 16 July 1931 in Seldovia.
- Deloris Catherine, born 26 July 1932 in Seldovia.
- Andrew Alfred (Sonny then Swede), born 11 October 1933 in Seldovia.
- Arthur William (Coogan), born 2 February 1935 in Seldovia.
- Lettie Lavern (Dolly), born 23 June 1936 in Seldovia.
All of us had our Great Aunt Florence Olssen as a midwife except Thomas.
Thomas Kenus Fox (Bunson)
My oldest brother was born in Anchorage, Alaska, 1 December 1929. He grew up with the nickname of Bunson, which our mother said means bouncing baby boy in Russian. He was the only grandchild of Barbara Bowen before she died.
Baby Boy Is Born to Mrs. Tom Fox
A baby boy, weighing 8 1-2 lbs was born a few days ago to Mrs. Tom Fox at Seldovia, and is reported by visitors in Seward that mother and child are in excellent health.
Mrs. Fox was Hattie Johnson, the daughter of Andy Johnson, a well known pioneer of Kodiak and Seldovia.
Mr. Fox was a patient at the Seward General Hospital last spring with a sudden attack of appendicitis sending him here by plane.
Thomas grew up fast; he had a lot of responsibilities after our father left.
When he was young he was on a boat with our dad. Dad decided to go into town and visit. Thomas was to stay on the boat and keep watch. The boat was tied to a big barge which was tied to the shore by a big rope. Thomas decided that he was on the boat long enough so with boots on he tried to hand over hand on the rope to the barge. He fell into the water. Our dog Brownie was on shore and saw him go into the water. He started running to the house where dad was and barked until dad noticed the way Brownie was acting, ran to the shore. When Thomas was brought to shore and the Doctor they found that his lungs were full of water. He was sent to a hospital in Seattle, Washington.
Thomas grew up in a fishing family and town. When he was young he bought his first boat; it was a 30-foot boat named Moon. He helped support our mother who still had young children.
In 1964 he bought a huge crab boat, the Pacific Mariner, with partners, then the Andronica, which he later sold and then was sunk in Alaskan waters. He then bought the Metrofania with our brother Coogan. The Metrofania hit a rock on the way back from crabbing. The boat was a total loss but everyone was saved.
Thomas married a school friend Selma Colburg in Seldovia on 11 November 1954. Selma had a daughter, Sheryl Bergine. Thomas divorced Selma on 20 December 1955, and married Lina K. Regan in Seldovia on 7 December 1956. Lina was formerly married to William B. Regan; they divorced on 21 February 1956. On 6 December 1970, he married Nellie Leta (Leta N.) Shoemaker, who had been married to a Wardell. Thomas and Leta have a house near the water in Hoods Canal. He still fishes in the creeks and the bay and with Leta keeps a pretty nice flower garden and koi pond. He had no children of his own but Leta has a son and daughter.
Mae Annette (Fox) Sharp
I was born in the small village of Seldovia, Alaska. My mother had
six children, I was second to the oldest.
I lived in my grandparents’ home until I was nine years old. My father was a
hunter, fisherman and trapper and wasn’t around very much. We moved into a
big white house above the Seldovia river. My father got TB when I was
quite young and went to a sanitarium in Seattle.
After he was well, my mother divorced him.
Being the oldest daughter I learned to cook, sew, and watch the younger children while my mother worked. I was taught how to survive in the woods for medicines and food. Almost all our food came from the sea. When I was about twelve years old I baby-sat in the town, then worked in the crab cannery in the summer. By the time I was thirteen I worked all summers in Captain Anderson’s cannery (Squeaky).
When I finished high school I went with my sister to Anchorage on a vacation and met my husband of now 56 years. He was in the Air Force. I went back home and after a year went back to work in Anchorage. I worked for the District Engineers. I married Fred and when our first child was born, he was transferred to Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia. My two sons were born there. We lived in Georgia, Montana, Colorado, Mississippi, California, Washington, and Alaska. My youngest daughter was born in Anchorage.
When Fred retired we worked in California, living first in Petaluma, then in Fortuna. We moved to Washington and started working for the canneries in Alaska. We worked in Bristol Bay, Kenai, Petersburg, and Valdez. We also spent eight months on a processing ship in Bristol Bay. I was baker, cooks helper, floor lady, head of Quality Control, and did the hiring for some of the canneries.
We built our home in Olympia where we now live. Our trips are to Arizona in the winter. We have six grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
- Harriett Chereleen (Sherri), born 23 February 1951, Fort Richardson AFB, Anchorage. Died 3 May 1999 of an aneurism.
- Frederick Thomas, born 26 February 1952 in Valdosta, Georgia.
- Terry Mark, born 16 May 1953 at Moody AFB, Valdosta, Georgia.
- Carolee Renae, born 3 July 1955, Fort Richardson AFB, Anchorage, Alaska.
Deloris Catherine (Fox) Peterson
Deloris grew up in Seldovia like myself. She married Earl Duane (Pete) Peterson of Matanuska Valley on 15 August 1950. Deloris like the rest of the family worked hard as a youngster. She was Floor Lady (boss) for a crab processor in Kodiak for many years. Pete came over from Michigan with his family when he was about seven years old. The government gave his family land to raise crops in the valley. When he married Deloris, he worked for the Alaska Railroad, living in small places along the railroad like Curry. He built a small home in Anchorage. Later he moved to Seldovia and Kodiak where he started fishing. He bought a couple of boats, the last being the Markayla Dawn. He also bought a huge barge which he carried crab pots to set. They raised three children. Deloris is noted for her good seafood dinners. She spends her time gardening, picking berries and crocheting.
Andrew Alfred Fox (Sonny, Swede)
Andrew Alfred Fox obituary
Andrew (Swede) Alfred Fox, age 70, passed away in Renton, Wash., Oct. 6, 2004.
He was born in Seldovia, Oct. 11, 1933 to the late Thomas K. and Hattie Fox. Swede was united in marriage to Grace Ide on March 1, 1954, in Seldovia. He served in the Army during the Korean conflict and was stationed in the Anchorage area.
Swede and his growing family lived in Seldovia until 1965, where he fished and pursued other off-season endeavors. A jack-of-all trades and a tinker at heart, Swede could repair anything from a record player to the main engine of a boat.
He and his family moved to Kodiak in 1965, where he owned and operated the Scenic. In 1968 they moved to Anchorage, where he worked repairing engines and equipment all over the state for NC Machinery. They returned to Kodiak in 1973 and he continued his mechanical career repairing engines and equipment for the fishing fleet. He returned to commercial fishing and spent many happy years salmon fishing in Chignik, and herring fishing in Togiak.
He and Grace moved to Fort Mohave, near Bullhead City, Ariz. Even there, the call of the ocean each spring moved him to return to Kodiak to go salmon fishing. Being a fisherman was more than a job to Swede; it was a deep part of who he was—something he was born to do. He continued fishing each summer until he reached age 69.
Everywhere Swede traveled or lived he made many friends. His kind heart and sense of humor endeared him to family and friends. Always ready to help others, he spent his life making things better for those around him.
Swede is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Grace, his daughter Kathleen and her husband Darrell Thompson; granddaugher Kim and great-granddaughter Emma, Auburn, Wash., his son Edward and his wife Kathy; granddaughter Tamara and her husband Brett Rafuse, Renton, Wash., his son Michael; grandson Matt and great-grandson Mike, Ninilchick, his daughter Patricia Fox and her husband Chris Helms, Kodiak, grandson Travis, Baltimore, Md., his daughter Pamela Fox; and grandchildren Corey, Tristan and Shayna Muffoletto, his son Kevin; granddaughter Kristin, Kodiak, three sisters, Deloris (Pete) Peterson, Mae (Fred) Sharp, Lavern (Perry) Buchanan, two brothers Tom (Bunson) Fox and his wife Leta, Belfair, Wash., Arthur (Coogan) Fox and his wife Martha, Kodiak. He is further survived by nieces, nephews and other relatives and many, many close friends. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by grandson Leon Thompson.
A celebration of Swede’s life was held in Renton, attended by family and friends to share memories and stories about all those that he touched so deeply with his life. He will be cremated and his ashes spread at sea, in those waters that he loved so much.
Arthur William Fox (Coogan)
Coogan was born in Seldovia on 2 February 1935. When he was barely walking I remember him throwing his bottle in the fire that the family was burning to get rid of the grass in the yard. When he was about twelve years old he talked Squeaky Anderson, who owned the cannery, into renting him a skiff to fish in. It cost him $200. He was so small and the boat so big we worried about him. Once while fishing in the creek (which was against the law) our neighbor flew over the creek and saw Coogan leave the skiff and run and hide in the woods. He laughed about this for years.
Coogan bought a couple of boats which he fished and crabbed. The
last being the Metrofania with our older brother. It was lost in the rocks
one night. They didn’t save the boat, but all hands were saved.
He married a girl from Oregon, Claudia Patricia McCann,
on 28 January 1957.
Claudia was born on 27 July 1941, Gillette, Wyoming; died 19 February 2018, Goldbar, Washington.
Coogan and Claudia had three children:
- Kim, who married Bradly McEwen.
- Debbie, born 19 November 1958, who married Morris Adams.
- Jeremy
In 2009, Coogan was fishing with his brother-in-law Earl D. Peterson (Pete). His second marriage was to Martha Ann Kaune. He died in 2016 in Kodiak.
Lettie Lavern (Fox) Buchanan
Dolly, we call her, was the last child born to Hattie and Thomas Fox. She had poor eyesight for years. Mother used washes for her eyes and they later became OK. She married Perry Buchanan of Idaho and they have three children. She moved to Arizona for a few years and is now living in her new home outside of Seward, Alaska. She also does beautiful crochet work like her mother and sister.
