Alfred Paul Fergen

Alfred Paul Fergen, 98, of Snohomish, Washington died September 4, 2022. He is survived by his wife of 76 years, Elinor. He is also survived by his 5 children, Sue (Dick Johnson), Ruth (David Short), Paul (Chris Fergen), Ken Fergen, Janet (Greg Wilson) and 4 grandchildren, Matthew, Brett, Cameron and Carly. He was preceded in death by his grandson Eric.

Alf graduated from Parkston, South Dakota High School in 1942 where he lettered in three sports, earning all-state honors in track in his senior year. Alf was a WWII veteran serving as a Navy Seabee with the 109th US Construction Battalion in the Marshall Islands and Guam. He was an EM1 at the time of his discharge.

After moving from Parkston, South Dakota to Snohomish in 1957, Alf worked at Boeing. Most of his career was at the Boeing Tulalip test site where he enjoyed the variety of daily challenges requiring his creative solutions. He often talked about firing the "frozen chicken" guns. Alf retired from Boeing in 1985.

Alf was a devout Catholic and a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church in Snohomish. Alf was an active member of the congregation and volunteered for almost anything from Bingo to Sunday collections to keeping the furnace going in the winter. He and his wife Elinor both took great pride in being named the longest married couple in the Catholic Church in Washington State.

One of Alf's greatest pleasures was to attend all the sporting events of his 5 grandchildren. He saw many football, baseball and volleyball games over 15 years. Years after his children graduated from Snohomish High School it was not uncommon to see Alf walking the 2 blocks to the high school most Friday nights to attend a football game or the boys’ or girls’ basketball games.

Alf was an avid golfer and a lifetime member of the Kenwanda Golf Club in Snohomish. He was the inaugural member of their Hall of Fame.

Alf also spent much of his free time in his shop with woodworking projects. He made a lot of sawdust as he used to like to say. Alf loved to play cards and all his kids learned to play pinochle at an early age. For the last years of his life his weekly poker nights with his buddies was the highlight of his week.

Alf had a good run that lasted 98 years.

Services to be held at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Snohomish, Washington at 11:00 AM on Friday, September 30, 2022 with a reception to follow at St. Michael's hall. Graveside interment and Military Honor Guard presentation will be at GAR Cemetery at approximately 1:30 PM after the reception.