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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2003)
Page 6 2003 Vernonia Friendship Jamboree Trudy and Joe Magoff are 2003 Golden Pioneers 'M l* ■ssd 'j «W-» d * ! A — xl * s B ? '" I I P sV , «¿2 Joe and Trudy Magoff Honors as this yea r’s “Golden Pioneers” go to Trudy and Joe Magoff. Trudy was bom in Vernonia at the home of her parents, Pete and Bertha Matiaco, and started first grade at Washington G rade school. When the depression forced the O-A mill to close, her mill worker father moved the family to the Hillsboro area, where he pursued his dream of owning a cherry orchard. When the mill reorganized and reopened a few years later, he returned and continued working in Vernonia until he retired in the early 1950s. He didn’t gave up his dream farm, though, and commuted to work each week in Vernonia while Trudy, her brother and sister attended school in Hillsboro. Joe was born in Philadelphia, Penn., where his father was a construction work er. Construction jobs took the family all over the country and, in 1922, his dad, Tom, came to Vernonia to help with the con struction of the O-A Mill. Tom Magoff liked Vernonia so much that, in 1925 he moved his fam ily here and took a job at the mill. Joe said his father and mother, Emma, wanted to put down roots and “not bounce around from job to job and place to place anymore.” Joe has been here ever since! While in about the eighth grade, Joe’s skill as a boxer was noticed. He was part of a group of young men who went to a gym above the blacksmith shop on Weed Avenue, to prac tice and train. He pursued box ing for the next dozen years and was nicknamed “Tiger” by the promoters. Tiger Joe boxed around the northwest, first as a “curtain raiser,” then as a main events boxer. He enjoyed the sport and really liked the $12 or $15 he could make for a six-round bout - about the same money that he would make all week working in the mill or the woods! About 1940, Joe headed for northern Idaho to try his luck as a miner in a lead and zinc mine. Then, when World War II broke out, he volunteered for service and joined the Seabees, spending the next few years building floating docks and such on many of the South Sea islands. After the war, Joe returned home, where he met and mar ried Trudy. They made their home in Vernonia and, in 1950, moved to the home on Rose Ave. where they still reside. Joe w ent to w ork setting Please see page 7 W ilc o x & F le g e l The name you trust for: • • • • G asoline Diesel Fuel O ils • S o lve n ts A d d itiv e s • Wilcox & Flegel can also provide you with: H eating Oil • Fuel Tanks & S tands E quipm ent & A c c e s s o rie s • R o o f C o a tin g s S hingle O il fo r R oofs, Fences & D ecks Chevron Call 503 429-6606 Wilcox & Flegel 720 Rose Avenue, Vernonia CFN
