Donald Makoviney Longtime Shelton resident Donald Lester Makoviney, who ran a local construction company for three and a half decades, died of cancerrclated causes on Tues- day, October 11, at his home in Shelton. He was 71 and had lived in Shelton for 65 years. He was born on February 5, 1954 in Youngs- town, Ohio, to John and Gazella . (C h e rv e n k a ) Makoviney, im- migrants from Czechoslovakia. Donald His father M k ,- traveled across a annoy the country prosA pecting for gold and eventually fell in love with the Northwest in Shelton. The family including Mr. Makoviney’s parents, his brother Ed and sisters Margaret and Rose moved here in 1936 when he was 2 years old. Brother Butch was later born in Shelton. His mother cried when they or» rived to find their ”new home,” a farmhouse converted from an old mill cookhouse, was merely a shack without water or electricity. When Mr. Makoviney was 8, his father gave him a broken, down old car and told him if he could get it to run, he could have it. And he did. He had learned a lot about mechanics just watching his father and handing him tools. He and his siblings had a lot of chores on the farm, and they got along well together then. His fa- ther worked for the Mason Counr ty Road Department, then for Schaefer Brothers Logging Com— pany. He was killed in 1947 while blowing up stumps with dynam- ite. A bad [use caused the dynam- ite to explode before he could get away. Don’s mother, who had shif- fered from rheumatic heart dis» ease, worsened after his father’s death and died in 1950, leaving him without parents at age 16. After his mother’s death, he dropped out of high school and got a job washing dishes for 200 hungry loggers at Schaefer Broth- ers Logging Camp near Camp Grisdale on the upper Wynoochee River. The company employed him largely as a favor to his fa— ther, who hncl lost his life worlv ',.4,.,..,.,,u ,,. .. crew doing maintenance work on the company‘s railroad tracks. At age 17, when a “cat skinner" failed to show up for work one morning, his boss offered him a chance .to operate the bulldozer. He ran bulldozer for the next three to four years. During that time he married Mary Jean Wal- lace in Elma and had two of four children. Schaefer Brothers sold to Simpson Timber Company and he moved his family to Camp Grisdale, where they lived from 1955 to 1961. He took a job with ow. Bignoll Construction Company in 1961 and learned to operate other types of heavy equipment. He was soon promoted to superintendent, in charge ofmost of the firm’s jobs. He decided to start his own com- pany in 1969 at age 35. He bor- /o 10 rowed $4,000 and bought his first bulldozer, cleared land and built roads. Don L. Makoviney Con- struction Company grew and had as many as 75 men on the pay~ roll, as well as 15 bulldozers, 25 dump trucks, then logging trucks, road graders, skidders and more. His favorite part of the job was building mountain logging roads in the Olympics, anticipating what the country would look like over each new hill. He was most proud at the height of his busi- noss when he had both his son and son-in—law working next to him. He had no college. “Logging camps were a home ofthe old and a school for the young,” be ex- plained. And that is where he learned the most about logging, clearing, road building, mechan— ics, welding, etc. He enjoyed working, hunting, fishing, antique engines, tractors, the outdoors, cutting firewood and being in the woods. He was a member of Shelton Moose Lodge 1684 and the Aberdeen Eagles. During the past 12 years, he and Mary Ellen Hogan shared their lives in Shelton where they enjoyed hunting, fishing, family gatherings and traveling in their motorhome. He was preceded in death by his wife in 1993 and by infant daughter Mary Ann Makeviney. Surviving are his partner, Mary Ellen Hogan of Shelton; son Duane Malcoviney of Shelton; daughters Sharon Knight and her husband Terry, and Christine M. Makoviney, all of Shelton, and Catherine Frinson and her hus- : W1 I'\ m (1’ I‘ll moi”, lwnlliorn: John “Butch" Makoviney of Shel> ton; sisters Margaret Pearce of Lacey and Rose Nye of Shelton. Also surviving are grandchil- dren Don Makoviney, Michael Makoviney, Debbie Cline, Diane Dee Marrow, Karolyn LaMarsh, Sarah Longan, Melissa Morrison, Ashley Taylor and Jake and Emilic Brinson; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and his partners children, Connie Pur— year of Olympia and Clay Hogan of Montesano. A memorial service is set for 1 p.m. on Friday, October 21, at Hope Chapel, 421 West E Street in Shelton, with Pastor Ken Niel- sen officiating. Inurnment will be at Shelton Memorial Park. Arrangements are by McComb Funeral Home in Shelton. , OCR Text: Donald Makoviney Longtime Shelton resident Donald Lester Makoviney, who ran a local construction company for three and a half decades, died of cancerrclated causes on Tues- day, October 11, at his home in Shelton. He was 71 and had lived in Shelton for 65 years. He was born on February 5, 1954 in Youngs- town, Ohio, to John and Gazella . (C h e rv e n k a ) Makoviney, im- migrants from Czechoslovakia. Donald His father M k ,- traveled across a annoy the country prosA pecting for gold and eventually fell in love with the Northwest in Shelton. The family including Mr. Makoviney’s parents, his brother Ed and sisters Margaret and Rose moved here in 1936 when he was 2 years old. Brother Butch was later born in Shelton. His mother cried when they or» rived to find their ”new home,” a farmhouse converted from an old mill cookhouse, was merely a shack without water or electricity. When Mr. Makoviney was 8, his father gave him a broken, down old car and told him if he could get it to run, he could have it. And he did. He had learned a lot about mechanics just watching his father and handing him tools. He and his siblings had a lot of chores on the farm, and they got along well together then. His fa- ther worked for the Mason Counr ty Road Department, then for Schaefer Brothers Logging Com— pany. He was killed in 1947 while blowing up stumps with dynam- ite. A bad [use caused the dynam- ite to explode before he could get away. Don’s mother, who had shif- fered from rheumatic heart dis» ease, worsened after his father’s death and died in 1950, leaving him without parents at age 16. After his mother’s death, he dropped out of high school and got a job washing dishes for 200 hungry loggers at Schaefer Broth- ers Logging Camp near Camp Grisdale on the upper Wynoochee River. The company employed him largely as a favor to his fa— ther, who hncl lost his life worlv ',.4,.,..,.,,u ,,. .. crew doing maintenance work on the company‘s railroad tracks. At age 17, when a “cat skinner" failed to show up for work one morning, his boss offered him a chance .to operate the bulldozer. He ran bulldozer for the next three to four years. During that time he married Mary Jean Wal- lace in Elma and had two of four children. Schaefer Brothers sold to Simpson Timber Company and he moved his family to Camp Grisdale, where they lived from 1955 to 1961. He took a job with ow. Bignoll Construction Company in 1961 and learned to operate other types of heavy equipment. He was soon promoted to superintendent, in charge ofmost of the firm’s jobs. He decided to start his own com- pany in 1969 at age 35. He bor- /o 10 rowed $4,000 and bought his first bulldozer, cleared land and built roads. Don L. Makoviney Con- struction Company grew and had as many as 75 men on the pay~ roll, as well as 15 bulldozers, 25 dump trucks, then logging trucks, road graders, skidders and more. His favorite part of the job was building mountain logging roads in the Olympics, anticipating what the country would look like over each new hill. He was most proud at the height of his busi- noss when he had both his son and son-in—law working next to him. He had no college. “Logging camps were a home ofthe old and a school for the young,” be ex- plained. And that is where he learned the most about logging, clearing, road building, mechan— ics, welding, etc. He enjoyed working, hunting, fishing, antique engines, tractors, the outdoors, cutting firewood and being in the woods. He was a member of Shelton Moose Lodge 1684 and the Aberdeen Eagles. During the past 12 years, he and Mary Ellen Hogan shared their lives in Shelton where they enjoyed hunting, fishing, family gatherings and traveling in their motorhome. He was preceded in death by his wife in 1993 and by infant daughter Mary Ann Makeviney. Surviving are his partner, Mary Ellen Hogan of Shelton; son Duane Malcoviney of Shelton; daughters Sharon Knight and her husband Terry, and Christine M. Makoviney, all of Shelton, and Catherine Frinson and her hus- : W1 I'\ m (1’ I‘ll moi”, lwnlliorn: John “Butch" Makoviney of Shel> ton; sisters Margaret Pearce of Lacey and Rose Nye of Shelton. Also surviving are grandchil- dren Don Makoviney, Michael Makoviney, Debbie Cline, Diane Dee Marrow, Karolyn LaMarsh, Sarah Longan, Melissa Morrison, Ashley Taylor and Jake and Emilic Brinson; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and his partners children, Connie Pur— year of Olympia and Clay Hogan of Montesano. A memorial service is set for 1 p.m. on Friday, October 21, at Hope Chapel, 421 West E Street in Shelton, with Pastor Ken Niel- sen officiating. Inurnment will be at Shelton Memorial Park. Arrangements are by McComb Funeral Home in Shelton. , Mason County Genealogical Society,Obituaries,Obituaries for Shelton Cemetery,M Last Name,Makoviney, Donald Lester.tif,Makoviney, Donald Lester.tif, Makoviney, Donald Lester.tif