Irwin Buchholz

IRWIN “BUCK” BUCHHOLZ

832 Cedar St.

Edmonds, WA 98027

(206) 775-1391

update 11/29/04

After graduation, I joined the Electrical Workers Union, IBEW Local 134 Chicago and started work a few days later. In 1956 I married Pat Nixon and we had four boys together. My marriage ended in divorce in 1969. I was awarded custody of my four boys and we relocated to Pickerel Point on Long Lake.

Associated with the Wilmot Ski Patrol since 1952 when the ski industry started to grow, I grew along with it. I became a Ski Instructor and later the Night Ski School Director at Wilmot.

In 1957 I was activated in the US Naval Reserve and spent two years (1957/59) duty aboard the USS Durant as Electricians Mate Petty Officer, based out of Pearl Harbor, HI. Upon my return to civilian life, I continued my career in the electrical industry. I was involved in all phases of heavy industrial and commercial installations. My titles included Electrician, Foreman, Superintendent, Estimator and Contractor.

In 1976 I married Janet Jacobson of Elmhurst, IL, a widow who had a daughter and a son. Shortly after our marriage, we sold all our interests in Illinois and relocated to Stevensville, Montana. There we purchased a small ranch and proceeded to rebuild the original ranch house, mended fences, repaired outbuildings, bought horses and livestock. It was a very small ranch, so for income we purchased distressed properties, rehabbed and resold them. I also returned to the electrical industry as an electrician building Pulp Mills, Gold Mines and Nuclear Power Plants.

In 1981 we sold the ranch and resettled to the greater Seattle area. There the economic atmosphere was more stable. We purchased an older home in Edmonds, WA, just north of Seattle with a great view of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Again, we did a complete rebuild of “This Old House.” I transferred my union credentials to the Seattle IBEW Local and worked as an Electrician, Superintendent, and Estimator. I retired here in 1996.

We still ski, hike and sail. We sold our 35-foot sailboat in 2000 and now charter boats in places where the water is quite a bit warmer (my wife’s idea). We try to get to British Columbia, Canada a couple of times a year to ski and as well as skiing in Washington and Oregon. We have a 26-foot GMC motor home, which we take into the mountains and high deserts of the Pacific Northwest where we do a considerable amount of hiking.

A couple of years ago, I had the trip of a lifetime: six weeks of sailing on a 48-foot sailboat in the South Pacific. A party of seven sailed almost 2000 miles and visited the Islands of Fiji, Vanuatu (New Hebrides) and New Caledonia.

Sooo, here I am in Edmonds, WA retired, happily married for over twenty-five years, six successful children (married and fully mortgaged) and 10 grandchildren. We travel a couple times a year to various parts of North America, constrained only by Janet’s work (she’s 10 years younger than I). We look forward to Janet’s retirement, trying to keep up with the grandkids in skiing, sailing and staying fit and healthy.