Page 6
2003 Vernonia Friendship Jamboree
Trudy and Joe Magoff are
2003 Golden Pioneers
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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
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