1860 Days 2011 Grand Marshals Marv and Nettie Karn

Narrative by their son Mike Karn; with added information submitted by Marv and Nettie, in parenthesis.

Marv and Nettie celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary on Aug. 18.

My mom and dad met in Salem, OR.  After they married, the Air Force took them to Arizona and Texas, then back to Salem after an honorable discharge (Korean War Vet - Jan. 4, 1951 to Jan. 5, 1955; USAF Crew Chief).

Dad took a job as a correctional officer at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Dad was a member of the shooting team and won many awards for his marksmanship. While employed at the pen, he volunteered to work at the Forest Camp on the Wilson River near Tillamook, OR.  The Forest Camp was manned by convicts and a small group of guards. They would travel around the Northwest when fire season was on and fight forest fires!

I can remember Dad being gone for two to three weeks on big fires. This was Dad’s chance to earn some decent money! Sometimes when he was gone, Mom would take us three older boys out to the strawberry and bean fields so she could make some money to help put food on the table.

Then one day, interrupting plans to go to Alaska, came the ad in the Oregonian.

I remember it was alarge ad advertising for workers to come to Pierce with 20 years guaranteed jobs working at Jaype Plywood, with lots of fishing and hunting as a bi-product. Dreamland for Dad and us kids. My dad was more than happy to work plenty of hours to get ahead. (Moved to Pierce, Dec. 13, 1965). We got rid of the Fiat 600 and got a brand new 1966 Toyota Land Cruiser with a winch. We traveled the backwoods and hunted and fished every chance we could as Dad was an avid outdoorsman, with four boys to pull winch line. Mom was a bright fixture with all the kids and later, the early morning loggers and mill workers. (Nettie cooked for Pierce High School and 25 + years in restaurants in Pierce).

She was always ready to tell you how bad you looked or how dumb you were. And, where else could you hear the cook say, “Aw, Fishguts”. Her homemade soups and pies were popular with the patrons of the Clearwater Café where she last worked with her good friend Bobby Jo Mc Millen. (Nettie is known for her hot cakes “Nettie’s Killer Cakes). People who were around then will agree what a pair they made. 

Mom and Dad both are known to be as good of workers as it would be possible to find. Ask anyone. Mom and Dad are living comfortably in the remodeled home that we moved to in 1965, on  Ash Court in Whispering Pines. (Marv retired from Potlatch, Jaype Mill in August, 1994. He served four years on the Pierce City Council in the ‘70s. He was an active member of the Odd Fellows in Pierce. Marv and Nettie raised four sons in Pierce, Marv, Jr., Eric, Mike and Gary).