HAT ISLAND — A memorial of a firefighter now stands overlooking a spot that might be one of Snohomish County’s best kept scenic secrets.
On Saturday, friends, family and neighbors gathered around the third hole of the Hat Island golf course to dedicate a 6-foot statue of John Maulsby, a retired Seattle firefighter who died in February after a long battle with emphysema. He was 80.
During the past three decades, Maulsby and his wife, Charlotte, found peace on the picturesque, invite-only island between Everett and Whidbey Island in Possession Sound.
“He was a man’s man in the old-fashioned sense where your handshake was your word,” said Charlotte Maulsby, 74. “I know this place extended his life just by being here.”
That’s why she wanted the community to remember her husband, who was always determined to do the right thing and would give anybody the shirt off his back. Because all firefighters give so much of themselves to help others, just as hers did, Charlotte honored all of them during the service Saturday. A number of past and present local and regional firefighters attended.
“From climbing ladders and helping fight fires, to being a friend to each and every one of us, our joys will be greater, our loves will be deeper and our lives will be more full because of you who are here with us, and those (who) have sacrificed their lives for us,” Judith Bender, Maulsby’s longtime neighbor, said during the service.
Hat Island is a place where people not only know their neighbors but they’re usually happy to lend a helping hand.
Snohomish County Fire District 27 on Hat Island is an all-volunteer department. It serves about 35 people who are thought to call the quaint square-mile area home year-round and hundreds more who come for weekends, holidays, summers and getaways.
About 28 firefighters give their time and risk their lives to protect their neighbors without ever receiving a penny.
“I do it because I heard the fire alarm going off one day and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what if it’s my friend,’ ” fire Lt. Jann Kaufmann said.
The station has five vintage rigs, all donated from other area fire departments. But that’s where the help ends, said Fire Chief Mike Worthy, a former corporate executive.
Firefighters are well aware that if a blaze gets out of hand, it is nearly impossible to get backup on the island.
“We know we’re pretty much on our own,” Worthy said. “We’re an island, physiologically as well as mentally. We are it.”
Fortunately, Worthy said, firefighters have only had one blaze to contend with since June. The 33-year veteran resident credits that to everybody doing their part to have fun while staying safe during the dry summer.
There’s a lot to enjoy around the island. The nine-hole golf course is PGA-rated. There are beaches, a yacht club, a tennis court and a marina but there are no stores. People get supplies from the mainland by the private ferry, their own boat or renting a barge.
Residents get around by car, golf cart or even lawnmower on dirt roads that wrap around bluffs with stunning views of the sound, the mountains and the Everett skyline.
Today, there are about 280 homeowners, who like the Maulsbys, consider the spot their little slice of paradise. There are houses of every description, cabins and many empty lots for tent camping.
With no police department, a homeowners association functions as a de-facto government and law of the land.
Few refer to it by its official name, Gedney Island, these days. During the past century, the forested land was exploited as a gravel pit and bombing range. However, in the early 1960s investors started marketing it as a resort. Though that venture fizzled, Charlotte Maulsby, a Realtor, still shows off the relaxed vibe that remains.
She and her husband raised their children on the island. The two were friends long before they married 26 years ago, once their children had grown.
“John’s been around our whole lives. He changed my diapers, ” said stepson Shawn Potter, 50. “John was a love to party guy. … And Mom loves to entertain. They were a hoot.”
Maulsby is survived by his two children, Kelley Mirchoff and Kyle Maulsby; his stepchildren, Potter and Potter’s half-brothers, Thomas and Larry Hartman; and 10 grandchildren, including Hollywood television and film actor Beau Mirchoff.
Dozens of people stood on the third fairway, where medical helicopters usually land if a resident needs help and can’t be taken by private boat to a mainland hospital, to honor John Maulsby on Saturday. Now, the statue of the retired firefighter will be standing with his hose, watching over the area. Friends and family said he was a generous, honest, neighborly, fun-loving man.
Said longtime coworker and friend Richard Warbrouck, president of the Retired Firefighters of Washington, “His heart was as big as his body.”
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.
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