Roy Maus was an ‘incredible’ manager and father

The Boeing Co. archives, in a history of the 747, recognize a group called “the Incredibles.” They numbered in the thousands. There were construction workers, engineers and administrators. Roy Maus was one them.

Each played a role in building the world’s largest commercial airplane. Maus played a big role.

Roy John Wilfred Maus died Feb. 28. He was 75.

When he retired from Boeing Commercial Airplanes in 1990, he was director of facilities at the company’s Everett site.

“It’s like running a little city,” said Dave Maus, one of Roy Maus’ three sons.

Roy Maus is also survived by sons James Maus, of Lakewood in Pierce County, and Dan Maus, of Everett; sisters Beverly Salt, of Poulsbo, and Shirley Williams, of San Diego, Calif., and nine grandchildren. His daughter, Susan, died in 2004.

Born in Port Angeles and raised in Poulsbo, Maus had a lifelong love of boating. He died where he’d made his home for years, aboard his yacht, Santino, at Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle.

Fishing trips had taken him from Alaska to New Zealand. He had often taken his boat north in the summertime to Barkley Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island.

“When he’d come into the harbor at Ucluelet, there’d be a spot open and people standing on the dock. They’d know Roy was coming back,” said Dan Maus, 48.

Dave Maus, 50, works in program management at Boeing in Everett. “His employees liked him so much, I still hear about that all the time,” he said. On the Boeing property, there’s solid evidence.

“There’s a rock, ‘Maus rock,’ on the perimeter road,” Dave Maus said. “It’s dedicated to Roy J.W. Maus, director of facility, 1980 to 1990.”

Before the first 747 took flight in 1969, Roy Maus helped make a huge mark on Everett. As corporate director of planning for the company, “he was instrumental in purchasing land up here in Everett, and managing the construction of the Everett facility,” Dave Maus said.

Mike Lombardi, corporate historian for Boeing, said the “Incredibles” is an apt label. “The reason they took that name was the job they had – building the biggest airplane in the world and the largest building in the world.” It all happened at the same time.

“Anybody who was part of that program, in facilities or on the airplane itself, was part of the ‘Incredibles,’” Lombardi said.

Roy Maus was also involved in splitting the company into commercial and military entities. As a lobbyist, he worked with the government to bring a freeway to the Boeing site, his son said.

He came to Everett as director of facilities in 1980 in part to coordinate plant expansion for the 767 and prepare for the 777, Dave Maus said.

Dan Maus remembers his father as a people person.

“I’d watch when he’d come to work every morning. He’d spend 10 minutes randomly talking. He not only was interested in employees, he knew their wives’ names and how their kids were doing in soccer. That was part of the reason people were willing to go the extra mile for him,” Dan Maus said.

Roy Maus earned a degree in business administration from the University of Washington in 1954, then served in the Air Force until 1956. He raised his family in Edmonds.

“He was great to our mother,” Dave Maus said. “Even after they divorced, they were the best of friends.” Patricia Maus, who remarried, died in 2001.

At Shilshole Bay Marina, Jo Perry knew the same “people person” others remember from Boeing.

“He was a gem,” said Perry, who works in customer service at the marina. “His slip was right up by the entrance of the dock. He’d always be sitting on the locker box across the way, looking like a statue. He always said ‘Hi.’ He wanted me to wear a hat so I wouldn’t get skin cancer,” Perry said.

Sometimes, he’d get to talking about the 747. “He was very proud of that. He could have had me talking for days,” Perry said.

A group of live-aboards got together on the dock after Maus died. “They stood around the locker box and told Roy stories,” Perry said. “I think he’s probably still there, watching over us.”

His fondness for people extended to strangers on the side of the road. On family vacations, Dave Maus said, “whenever anybody had a problem on the road, he’d stop and help. It made our trips longer than usual. He was always such a gentleman.”

A celebration of Roy Maus’ life is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Ballard Sons of Norway Hall, 2245 NW 57th St., Seattle.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.