Port Maintenance manager retires after 30-years

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During his nearly 30-year tenure at the Port of Port Townsend, Larry Aase essentially built up the maintenance department from scratch.

Oct. 29 was the last day on the job for Aase, 67, of Port Townsend, as port maintenance manager. His successor is Chris Sparks, who has been working in collaboration with Aase for the past few weeks to learn the ins and outs of the position. 

“It has been such a large part of my life,” Aase told The Leader during an Oct. 29 interview in his office. Retirement “will take some getting used to, for sure,” he continued. “It has been a great job [and] a great place to work.”

When Larry Aase went to work for the Port of Port Townsend in early 1989, there was not much in sight as far as a maintenance department was concerned, he said.

“As time went on, there were only two of us, virtually no tools and a terrible maintenance facility,” he said. “And then, the other fellow I worked with retired and it was just me at that time. Basically, I spent the next 27 years or so actually building a maintenance department.”

That task required Aase to be flexible and creative. 

“We always had to operate with never enough money or enough people,” he said. “It is just the way it is here. The Port doesn't have that big of a budget. And there was so much to do.”

Aase became adept at fixing problems with limited means and on the fly. For this innate ability, and longstanding service, he was recognized by the Port of Port Townsend Commissioners during their regular business meeting on Oct. 24. In addition to a plaque and a golden hammer, Aase was presented with a spool of wire and duct tape — items he often used to keep the yard together when resources were limited. 

The job has kept Aase and his staff on their toes over the years, he said, adding that his team is nicknamed the “triage unit.”

“We plan as much as we can, but with the wide amount of things we have to do and how varied it is — we have hundreds of tenants in the Marina and buildings — there is always something going on, and so we deal with that and do as much construction ourselves as we can. The day gets filled up pretty quick.”

 

One piece at a time

Going in, Aase had big plans for the maintenance department, the first of which was to build a new functioning shop and to hire an adequate crew to perform the necessary functions around the yard to keep it up and running.

“The facility was so old … it was impossible to do without a shop, station equipment, welders, table saws and the like,” he said. “I had to hire the people, buy all the equipment and get the building built. It was a long, long process — one step at a time.”

Aase eventually was able to get a green light from the commissioners to build the new shop, which was completed in about 1996.

And, Aase assembled a crew with very little turnover rate over the last two decades. 

“This group here, I have been with them for a long, long time,” Aase said.

The crew includes Dave Johnson, a 17-year-veteran; Laura Snodgras, a nine-year-veteran; Shawn Wiles, a 19-year-veteran; Charlie Shaw, a veteran of four years; and John Green, an 11-year-veteran.

Johnson, a carpenter, said it is sad to see Aase leave after all these years.

“It is tough,” Johnson said. “Seventeen years is a long time to work with someone. He is a great boss too. Change is always a little tough, but we will get used to it. I've learned a lot from him too. That is one thing we do around here, is we share and get to know each other's stuff.”

 

From farmboy to maintenance boss

Aase was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, but raised on a corn and soybean farm south of the border in Iowa. His ancestors emigrated from Norway to work the land. 

Aase decided not to continue on in the agriculture tradition.

“My brother and I — there was only two of us — he decided to farm and I had just gotten married and then my wife and I decided to go to Alaska,” Aase said. “It was a very good move.”

Aase has been married to his wife, Jackie, for about 46 years. They have two children together, Joe and Lauren.

In Fairbanks, Alaska, Aase went to work on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in the mid-1970s. The system was being built in response to the 1973 oil crisis.  

“I was a surveyor for [about] one year in Iowa with the department of Agriculture … so I had just enough experience to hook a job in Alaska and I ended up on the Alaska pipeline as a surveyor,” Aase said. “They dropped us off in helicopters for 12 hours [per] shift, and we did the original survey when there wasn't anything there. It was an incredible experience. They dropped us off and I think each crew had 100 miles to do, and eventually the crews would meet.”

Aase and his crew of four were working in the Brooks Range, out in the elements year-round, he said. 

“The cutoff was 25 below [zero]. They wanted it built, so it went as much as possible.”

In addition to potentially life-threatening weather, the crews also had to contend with the local wildlife.

“They initially wouldn't let us carry weapons,” he said. “We were encountering grizzly bears daily, all day. It was getting a little nerve-wracking at times because they didn't like us. They eventually gave us guns.”

After the pipeline was completed, Aase went to work for the city of Fairbanks Public Works Department as an engineering technician.

Later he took a job at the Port of Homer. 

Then, when the savings and loan crisis hit in the late 1980s, Aase found himself looking for work during an economic downturn. 

“I ended up unemployed,” he said. “The housing market — they were leaving the keys on the table and walking away from their homes. It was bad. We were able to sell our home — we built a log house down in Anchor Point, which is about 16-miles away from Homer. Then we came down here and I was trying to get back into surveying again.”

Instead of surveying, Aase was hired on at the port because of his background in construction, he said. 

“It was a sleepy hollow down there,” he said. “It was wonderful. It was a lot like Alaska, which made me feel at home. Alaska was funky and this place was funky. There were characters everywhere and it was laid back and easy going. I liked it very much.”

 

Big Projects

During his time at the Port, Aase has been a part of many big projects. He said his favorite was the completion of the Port Townsend Boatyard in Nov. 1997, which features a heavy boat haulout facility. The largest Marine Travelift on site is capable of lifting vessels up to 150 feet long and weighing up to 330 tons, the Port of Port Townsend website states. 

The Boatyard is the home of the Wooden Boat Foundation and the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, with various marine trades businesses that call the shipyard home.

When he started, the marine trades were fledgling, Aase recalled. Completion of the heavy boat haulout facility helped those marine trades flourish, Aase said. 

“That brought a whole 'nother aspect because this is a wooden boat place. It opened up new avenues for the marine trades to get into.”

 

Leaving it behind

While bittersweet for Aase, he looks forward to retiring from his position and spending time pursuing personal hobbies, including playing guitar and woodworking.

“I am looking forward to it because, growing up on a farm, I was working since I was very young,” Aase said. “I built a wood shop over the years and have been restoring a house for 28 years. I dabble in furniture making. I have plenty to do.”

Mostly, Aase will miss his colleagues, a family of sorts to him.

“I am definitely going to stay in touch,” he said. “I would have never have made it this long without this group.”

Aase had some words of advice for his successor, Sparks.

“This is quite an interesting place,” Aase said. “You will never be bored here. There have been trials and tribulations and a fair amount of controversy all these years. You keep your head down and keep on doing your job.”