By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News
PORT LUDLOW — Master boat builder R.M. “Tolly” Tollefson, whose Tollycraft boats have continued a loyal following long after their production, has died in hospice care. He was 100.
The Port Ludlow resident founded Tollycraft Corp. in 1952 and built a reputation over the next three decades for making some of the most well-crafted and durable boats.
“Tolly always had an eye for graceful design and timeless design,” said Brett Peck, commodore of the Seattle-based Tollycraft Boating Club.
“These boats have so much time built into them. If he wanted to make more money, he certainly could have built less of a boat.”
Peck said he remembers Tollefson, who died May 6, as a humble man with a great sense of humor.
There are two other Tolly boating clubs, one in Portland, Ore., and the other in Vancouver, B.C.
Donna Coffey of the Tollycraft Boating Club said Tollefson didn’t want a funeral. Rather, he requested that each of the clubs spread his ashes over the water.
Peck said his club plans to spread his ashes near Port Ludlow sometime this summer.
Tollefson started his company in Kelso. He sold it in 1987, according to the Longview Daily News.
The company went bankrupt in 1993.
Tollefson was honored in Port Ludlow when he turned 100 in January by about 175 Tollycraft owners and admirers.
His health was deteriorating then, but Tollefson “rose to the occasion,” Peck said.
Peck said he bought his first Tollycraft boat about five years ago.
At the time, he had a boat that he was always repairing. But the boat in the slip next to his, a Tollycraft, he noticed never needed work.
“I’d have half my boat pulled apart . . . and this thing would look amazing all the time,” Peck said.
“You just sort of live in awe of it.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
