As I write this article I am saddened by the death of one of Fox Island's pioneers, my dad, Dr. Kenneth B. Edgers, 77. Known as "Doc", Kenny, Pop or "Deah", he had been coming regularly to Fox Island since 1908, and had been a permanent resident here for the past twelve years. Besides my mom and his family, he loved Fox Island best.

            Pop started coming to the Island with his mother and father, brother and sister who would rent a cabin every summer on Echo Bay, just down the bay from the old Sylvan Store. My dad's college room mate, Spencer Tracy, the movie actor, spent part of one summer in this cabin with Pop and his family. In the book Spencer Tracy, by Larry Swindell is a picture of Mr. Tracy with a caption that reads, "Young playwright at work on Fox Island". Both my mom and dad acted with Tracy in college plays, but my favorite picture and caption from the Swindell book shows Spencer with his arm around my dad's shoulder and says, "Tracy's arm is draped over a likelier matinee idol, Ken Edgers".

            After getting married, my mom and dad would stay in the Sylvan Lodge or one of the cabins nearby. My earliest memories of the Island are of the Lodge and especially the cabin we would stay in, built over the beach. Just after W.W. II my folks were able to buy several acres on the water (known as Miller's Point) from Mrs. Anne Cook. For as long as I can remember, Pop worked continually to keep the place up so that when he retired he would have a nice place to live. Fortunately, he was able to realize the fruits of his labor, and as he said very recently, "Retiring on Fox Island is one of the best things I ever decided on." My folks have been around the world two or three times by ship, and have driven completely around the United States, and they have always said that there is no place in the world they would rather live than the Island.

            My dad's stories of Fox Island always fascinated me and I continually questioned him about the Island's history. He would tell about coming here by steamer or motor launch from Tacoma or Seattle and then getting off at a dock or the beach. His typical childhood summer would be to get a pig shave, which would take the summer to grow out, then upon landing at Sylvan he would take off his shoes and shirt for the rest of the summer which consisted of swimming, fishing, beachcombing and exploring. All I can say is, (except for the pig shave) like father, like sons. On a slow day Pop would hop on one of the steamers that picked up passengers, mail and freight and travel around the Sound from sun-up to sun-down. I was always interested in the fact that when he was young there weren't any roads on Fox Island. If you wanted to go somewhere you either walked on a path or the beach or rowed a boat. One of the more interesting places to explore, a short distance from where he stayed, was Tanglewood Island, known as Grave Island. This was originally an Indian burial ground, and when Pop was a kid there were still canoes supported in trees on the Island. He said the Smithsonian claimed most of the relics that were left on the Island, but even after that he could find beads.

            A favorite place to fish, beachcomb, dig clams, hunt agates and clay babies, camp or have beach fires was the Sandspit. Up until the DeMolay bought this property our family would spend several days each summer doing just this.

            My dad was fortunate to have lived a long, prosperous, generous and happy life here on Fox Island. Although we are saddened by his passing, we can honestly say he made an everlasting good impression in our lives. His last moments of life were spent sitting in his favorite chair on a deck overlooking Puget Sound on a beautiful summer's day.

            Thank you for everything, Pop.