 By Liv (Knutzen) Hauge October 01, 2008
What fun to read this wonderful article you have about Emery Tobin written in March of 2007 by Dave Kiffer. My father, Marcus Knutzen, was the Director of the Norwegian Seamen's Mission which was right to the left of their home on Mission Street. The Tobins lived on the second floor with their kitchen facing our kitchen, which was on the second floor of the Mission. Doris and I would face each other as we both were in the kitchen. We lived in the Mission from 1935 to 1944; and moved to Brooklyn, NY when I was 12 years of age. We lived there when the Chronicle and Fishing News newspaper boys heralded the news of Pearl Harbor's bombing as we left our church at First Lutheran. My brother Mark Knutzen was one of those newsboys for the Fishing News. I remember the air raid drills, my dad being one of the air raid wardens. Our windows were covered with dark material. We were sent to the mountain area behind the American Legion building. When Attu was attacked, I was attending Vacation Bible School; and we were again all sent to the Bear Mountain area. On the top step of the Tobin's curio shop was a big black ball with a sign that said that it was a "moose egg" and I believed it. The Tobins had a beautiful yard with a fountain in the center. Today it is a parking lot. I have also found a couple articles about Emery Tobin written by June Allen some time ago. I returned to Ketchikan for the first time in 1994 with my husband, my brother Mark and his wife. It was wonderful to retrace our childhood on the streets, up Stair St., to where the Main School once was, climb Deer Mtn, walk around Bugge Beach, watch the water come in over the dam, squeeze the seaweed, look for crabs under the rocks, find the colorful starfish, simply smell the wonderful fresh sea air. We returned again with our two teenaged grandsons again in 2000. Our hosts both times were Jim and Judy Auger. Jim and my brother were copies of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in their young lives. Ketchikan never left our memories. And today Emery's daughter Doris and I are still connected and have seen each other during our visits to Alaska. But that's another story. Again what a wonderful article about a very amazing man who did much for Ketchikan through the years. Liv (Knutzen) Hauge About: Would have graduated
from KayHi in 1951 Received September26 , 2008 - Published October 01, 2008 Viewpoints - Opinion Letters:
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