Scott Eldon Foss 1922 ~ 2011

Scott Eldon Foss, age 89, quietly passed away at home in Anacortes on December 16, 2011 after a long illness.

He was born on August 5, 1922 in Renton, Washington to Eva and Forrest Foss, the fourth of six children.

In his family were several generations of loggers and his childhood was spent learning the logging business in varying areas of Western Washington. By the time he was in high school they had settled in Concrete, where under the tutelage of a fine woodshop teacher, he developed a love and skill for working with wood, which remained a major part of his life and activities. He built a group of curly maple dining room furniture that has been in the Foss family ever since.

After graduating from high school Scott attended the University of Washington for a short time, but he returned to his family and the forests he loved. During WWII he joined the Army Air Force. He had hoped to be assigned to single engine airplanes, but pilots were needed in bombers. He was based in Italy, while his younger brother, Neil, was also flying bombers in the South Pacific.

While in the service he married Betty Jean Mischke, and when he returned he met his baby daughter, Regina. He took his family to Alaska to work for a logging company, and his son, Richard, was born in Ketchikan. Raising a family in a remote inlet in Southeast Alaska was not easy, and they returned to Washington, where he enrolled in Whitman College to complete his education. Again it was interrupted, this time by family matters, and he returned, with his two children to resettle with his parents and siblings in Anacortes and rejoin his brothers in the F.E. Foss logging company. He married Gail Heilman, and they added four children to the family — Jim, Kenneth, Neil, and Kathleen.

As the kids were growing up he became interested in their schooling and joined the Anacortes school board, where he served for twelve years. He left the Foss Brothers logging business and decided to work alone. He believed that he could make more money and do less damage logging small tracts selectively. It worked, but again domestic problems caused a family breakup. He raised six children with the help of grandparents and his business flourished. A few brief years with his third wife, and he was single again.

When he decided to retire from logging he turned his business over to his son, Neil, whom he had trained to be a fine logger. While working on one of his last jobs on Cypress Island he met Kelly Anderson, who eventually became wife number 4, and their happy relationship endured to the end of his life. He bought a sailboat and they cruised the Inside Passage for many years, from the San Juan Islands to Prince William Sound in Alaska. They often lived aboard for months at a time, maintaining their home in Anacortes. When he decided to sell his fourth sailboat they spent their leisure time hiking and camping, and he returned to his passion for woodworking, producing a dozen beautiful cedar rowboats.

He was preceded in death by his brothers Forrie, Clifford, and Fred Foss, his sister, Lois Means, and two sons, Richard and Kenneth Foss.

Scott will be lovingly remembered and sorely missed by his family and friends.

He is survived by his brother, Neil, daughters Kathleen Bennett and Regina Curry, and sons James and Neil, and their spouses; 9 grandchildren: Paul Bennett and Tiana Bennett, Deb Barnum and Tim Barnum, Mindy Rice and Kevin Foss, Shannon Foss, Esther Foss, and Margaret Foss, and 7 great-grandchildren.

At his request, no public memorial services are planned.