Normal 0 0 1 4 24 1 1 29 11.1282 0 0 0 June 7, 1923 Oct. 30, 2009

Normal 0 0 1 720 4108 34 8 5044 11.1282 0 0 0

You've got to be a hard-core fisherman to be willing to get up before dawn and head out onto the chilly waters of Puget Sound.

It certainly helped, then, that you'd be greeted by George McConnell's sunny disposition. His smile would light up a room.

In fact, as the owner of McConnell's Boat House for 47 years, as well as a longtime civic leader, he brought sunshine to a lot of lives.

George passed away following a brief illness on Friday, Oct. 30. He was 86.

McConnell's Boat House was the last of its kind in Mukilteo, an institution. He and his wife Opal not only anchored the waterfront with their popular business, they made their mark on all of Mukilteo.

Normal 0 0 1 22 126 1 1 154 11.1282 0 0 0

George and Opal McConnell regularly supported community events. In this case, they attend a Lion's Club breakfast during the 2007 Lighthouse Festival.

Opal recorded our community's history, publishing "Mukilteo Pictures and Memories," a must-have volume for anyone who cares about the town's past.

George was a major participant in making that history, serving on the Mukilteo City Council 13 years, as a volunteer firefighter 28 years, and as a long-time volunteer for the Mukilteo Food Bank.

The son of George Edward McConnell and Edna Frances Carr, George Jr. grew up near Portland, Oregon. His father, an electrician, helped build the Bonneville Dam.

A graduate of Stevenson High School in 1941, he first met his future wife there. But he was a senior, Opal just a sophomore, so they had little in common at first.

But George's mother knew. When she spotted Opal heading for the school bus stop in the morning, she'd alert George, Opal recalled. "She'd say, 'Opal's coming around the corner; you'd better hurry!'"

After graduation, George attended Benson Technical College in Portland, followed by two years at Oregon State.

He joined the Army in 1943 and served in the Pacific theater, in New Guinea, Southern Philippines, and Luzon, in the 1906th Aviation Engineers Battalion. He maintained membership in the American Legion Post 0006 for 62 years.

Upon completion of his service, George was ready to launch a business career. He had a special fondness for the water and, fortuitously, came across Victor McConnell's Boat House on Mukilteo's northern waterfront, thinking, "Here's a place with my name already on it!"

They struck a deal and, with his parents' financial assistance, he took over the business on May 1, 1946.

But on a visit back to Oregon, George again crossed paths with Opal, who was now working in Portland. She had just left a picture show with her siblings, and came across an old friend. She said George was tagging along behind.

Opal sent the kids home, and the couple went out to the nightspots.

"We just clicked," Opal said.

As Opal and George grew close, she and her parents visited Mukilteo and saw his business. Her folks were none too pleased, noting there was no decent place to live.

It didn't matter to the young couple. They married in 1947 and set up residency in two rooms in the boathouse rafters. And they started raising a family.

By today's standards, it was primitive. There was no running water in their apartment. They had to use the boathouse restrooms downstairs.

Nevertheless, "I thought it was a great place to live," Opal said. They managed nine years there.

By the time child number three came along, however, "It got a little crowded," Opal admitted. So they built a home on the roof.

George opened the boathouse for business at 3:30 a.m. each day, and the couple raised Bruce, Betsy and Brad who, of course, helped out when they weren't in school.

"It was a very, very good life," Opal said. "And we had good kids. I'm real thankful for that."

The children, now grown, inherited that same love of the water, daughter Betsy said.

"We're all very water-connected," she said, "and very caring about the environmental health of Puget Sound."

George and Opal were the pillars of an old-fashioned, tightly-knit family that remains close to this day.

"We really appreciate the talents and strengths of each other," Betsy said.

"Dad was pretty old school in the way he raised us, and he really instilled great traits of loyalty in us."

The McConnells were active in the community, with George immersing himself in civic service.

The couple's many contributions to Mukilteo were acknowledged in 2007 when they were honored as Mukilteo Pioneers of the Year.

Besides his wife Opal, George is survived by his brother Francis; brother-in-law Frank; son Bruce and wife Rochelle; son Brad; daughter Betsy; seven grandchildren, Melissa, Kelsey, Aaron, Daniel, Joshua, Michael and wife Anneke, and Michelle; and seven great-grandchildren, Jeremiah, Julius, Isaiah, Gauge, Annabelle, Lauryn, and Michael George.

He also leaves behind many friends and admirers in the fishing and boating communities, and in all of Mukilteo. That bright smile will be missed.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28, at Central Christian Church, 126 Cedar Ave., Snohomish.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions be made in George's name to the Mukilteo Firefighters Association, 10400 47th Pl. W, Mukilteo 98275.