In Days Gone By: Scriber Lake and the Wilcox Family’s Legacy, part 2 (1932-1967)

Part 2 of 2 parts. You can read part 1 here.

In part 1, we reviewed the history of Scriber Lake and the introduction of the Wilcox family to the area spanning the years 1910 to 1931. The following narrative will include paraphrased remembrances from the personal memoirs, letters or articles that were written by Betty, Al and Harold Wilcox.  Each reflection will be denoted by the person who penned the memory.

1932-1939: Hard times again for the Wilcox family

In 1932, early in the Great Depression, Eugene and Goody Wilcox could no longer make the necessary mortgage payments on the five-acre property they had purchased on the southeast corner of Scriber Lake in 1926. Fortunately, Charles Olson, a large dairy farmer, chose not to renew the lease on 40 acres of land north of Scriber Lake, where he had previously been pasturing his cows for years.

Al: “In 1932, my parents lost their house and five acres of property because they couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage. As fate would have it, 40 acres of land just to the north was available for lease from the state, so my parents were able to take over the annual lease payment and improvements. My parents got the lifetime lease for a very reasonable price, so in essence, we ended up moving across the street. There was a big house on the new property, and it was even better than the one we’d been living in for the past six years.  My parents’ bedroom was downstairs, and the kids all slept upstairs — girls on one side and boys on the other.

Al (continued): “We were able to keep our animals, which meant we were far better off than many people because we had an ongoing source of food. We would sell our extra food to others, and sometimes mom and dad would use food as payment for a doctor or dentist bill.”

Harold: “In the early to mid-1930s the property where the resort had been located was purchased by the Gwinn family. The property was no longer used as a resort, only as a retreat for the Gwinns. They had a full-time caretaker, a Mr. Wilfred Mossman, a very pleasant bachelor from England. He cleared a wide trail around the lake which made the lake more accessible because the underbrush was very thick. The east and south sides of the lake were best for swimming and fishing.

“We used to catch trout and crappies, mostly the latter by using willow branches for poles.  We would attach a float to the line and watch it until it started to bob up and down. We would jerk the line and usually catch a fish. One time I hooked a large crappie, and I had to back up to land it because I couldn’t raise the pole high enough to get the fish out of the water. While backing up, I stepped into a hole in the peat and sank up to my chest. I had to put my arms out to the side so I wouldn’t sink any further, but I did manage to get the crappie out of the water.”

Betty: “After we moved over to the new house, the boys helped supplement our food by hunting near the lake. There were a lot of pheasants and quail. The boys also fished a lot for trout and crappies although they tasted muddy after the roadwork had been done. The boys also trapped mink and muskrats. Mink pelts would bring $5 and muskrat $.50.”

Al: “Living on a farm really paid off during those hard times. My mother baked bread, and we had plenty of food to eat.  My father would also offer his carpentry skills in exchange for necessary food supplies.

“He would also take all the boys with him to areas that had been logged. We would work with him to cut the old-growth fir logs into 16” long pieces with a drag saw to sell to people to use in their heaters and kitchen stoves.

“While we were better off than a lot of people, we didn’t have much. The eight of us kids were lucky to have clothes on our backs.  I remember having been invited to a ‘tolo,” which was a school dance where a girl invites the boy.  At the last minute, my zipper broke on my only pair of pants. In one of my more embarrassing moments, I had to cancel the date. It was as simple as that.”

Betty: “When we moved in 1932 the Olson family ran a large dairy farm and lived nearby on the creek on the northeast side of the lake. The Nymans had a large farm on the southeast end of the lake.”

Harold: “In the late 30s and 40s there was a good-sized field in the back of the resort area, and we had permission to pasture our cattle there. This would necessitate our herding the cattle across 196th to this field at the back of the lake. Fortunately, auto traffic was not too heavy — maybe a car would go by every ten minutes or so.”

Al: “Those were terrible times for my generation, but even more so for our parents who had the responsibility of providing for their families. Life was a real struggle, but for us kids, it wasn’t all bad.  We didn’t know anything else, and our peers were in the same boat.    We still had Scriber Lake where we were free to fish, swim and to find other simple ways to amuse ourselves. We would find an old inner tube and wile away an entire summer afternoon rolling that inner tube all around and in the lake.”

Harold: “Our parents were always working and us kids were taught to work too, but we relished our time at Scriber Lake. It was our playground.”

Betty: “I spent a lot of time at the Olson’s. Swedish immigrants, Dagmar and Charles Olson, became the first large dairy farmers in the heart of Alderwood. They herded their cows out across the road to a pasture where Fred Meyer now sprawls. Their schedule for the herd of 20 or so was a demanding one without outside help. Milking by hand, all the washing, sterilization, cream separation, bottling, plus all the outside barn chores, and daily delivery route — the two did it all.

“During the summer, I sometimes went along with Charles and their daughter Vera on the seemingly endless routes way out past Martha Lake and south to the Bothell area — all known as Alderwood Manor then.  It was a reciprocal business with each day bringing some payment, but not always cash. Sometimes varied labor, produce and other food items. 24 lbs of strawberries would quickly be turned into jam or strawberry shortcake by Mrs. Olson.

“The Olsons seemed to be the most well-to-do in our area, because Mrs. Olson was the first one in my life who truly knew all the social graces and did all the proper things that took a little money”

Al: “My parents did not show a lot of affection to their children. But with all the work they had to do, when would they find the time?  And how do you show love to eight kids without showing favoritism? Of course, it always been my secret belief that I might have been my mother’s favorite.

“My parents were determined to see that their kids got a good education even though they hadn’t finished school themselves. Dad only finished the eighth grade, and mom the sixth.  To their credit, all eight of their children graduated from high school.”

1940s: Children growing up and World War II’s impact

By 1940 things were looking up.

The three oldest Wilcox children — Betty, now 24; Ken (23) Lorraine (21) — had left home. Al (19) had graduated from high school. He was living at home and beginning to follow in his father’s footsteps by working in the construction industry. Eugene (17), Harold (15), Iris (12) and Lorna (10) were still residing at home, and Scriber Lake continued to be both a summer and winter playground even though it was not as pristine after the road-paving and bridge-building project.

Harold: “Scriber Lake used to be the first lake north of Seattle to freeze over. We would check the thickness of the ice and when it was four inches thick, we would start playing on it, but we would have to stay away from the creek inlets and outlets. Part of the fun was building bonfires on the shore of the lake so that we would get warm if we needed to. It was fun to hear the “ping” of the ice as a crack took place across the lake. The lake would freeze over every year long enough for us to enjoy a week or two or three of skating.

“People would come out from Seattle to skate and play hockey and move south as the other lakes would freeze over. Green Lake would usually freeze over enough to skate as would other lakes in the area. There were stories of cars being driven onto the ice at Green Lake.”

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, Al, then 20, had just returned from Alaska where he had been working on a large construction project. Soon after the attack, Al enlisted in the Navy on March 10, 1942. During flight school he was given the opportunity to stay in the Navy or switch over to the Marine Corps.  He chose to switch and flew Corsairs as a U.S. Marine.

Three years later, after years of pilot training and combat missions in the Pacific, he safely returned home. Shortly after his return he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The presenter stated that the Distinguished Flying Cross was being awarded: “For Heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as pilot of a fighter plane in Marine Fighter Squadron Two Hundred Twelve during operations against enemy Japanese forces in the Philippines Island areas, from 22 March to 6 May 1945.”

It should be noted that the other three Wilcox boys served in the Navy during World War II, with Ken also seeing time in the Pacific.

Once back home, Al returned to work in construction. At the beginning of 1946, Al went to work for a small contractor building custom homes, and his father joined the firm as well.  As Al stated: “We did everything on those houses and learned a lot of things, including some things from my dad, who already was an excellent carpenter”.

In February, a buddy of Al’s persuaded him to go dancing as part of a double-date. Eight months later — Nov. 1, 1946 — Al married his “blind date” (Irene Mourer) at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood.

After the honeymoon, the couple stayed briefly in a couple of apartments and then a short move back home to Al’s parents’ home. Al quickly learned that sharing the same house didn’t work well for his new wife and mother, both strong-willed women.

In the spring of 1947 Al was able to purchase five acres for $750 on the southeast corner of 196th Southwest and 50th Street, approximately 200 yards from Scriber Lake. The property was a five-minute walk from where he had grown up. He borrowed $4,000 and with the help of his father he built a house. During the next 20 years, Al, Irene and their two children (Linda, born 11/21/1947 and Bob, born 11/17/1951) lived near Al’s parents and Scriber Lake.

During the 1940s, Eugene continued to work primarily in Seattle while Goody managed the 40-acre farm and raised their four youngest children.

Early in 1942, Goody and Eugene planted a small orchard and expanded their business to include several bee hives from which they sold honey. Their new business unfortunately led to encounters with an uninvited guest a few months later.  As reported in the Dec. 10, 1942, Edmonds Tribune-Review, “Bold Black Bear Browses Beehives But Is Balked”.

The article chronicled that a large black bear had been eating fruit from various sites while ambling south. At the Wilcox home it had twice shrugged off bear traps and was undeterred by an electric fence. The only thing that had scared it away was Goody, who was only a few yards away, holding a flashlight on him. The article concluded with this observation regarding Goody’s actions:

1950s: Times are improving and Scriber Lake and adjacent waterways continue to provide

1951-1955: The Wilcox households residing near Scriber Lake were adjusting to new realities. On the 40-acre farm, the four remaining Wilcox children had left home, and their parents were still farming without needing to feed a host of hungry children.

Adjacent to and across 196th Southwest, Al was busy enlarging their home and working in the construction industry. In the post-war years, both residential and commercial construction was booming. Irene was busy raising Al’s and her young children.

1956: The State of Washington expressed an interest in auctioning off a portion of the 40 acres that were under the lifetime lease agreement with the Wilcox family. Given that their eight children were grown and had left the nest, Eugene and Goody agreed to release 30 of the 40 acres, which greatly reduced their workload.

Eugene, by then, was basically retired from carpentry. Reportedly he took one of the rafts the family had and put a crate on it, using it as a seat. He then floated on Scriber Lake, fishing as he whiled away the hours.

Conversely, Al’s son Bob stated: “As far as playing at Scriber Lake, I wasn’t allowed to. Mom and Dad considered it too dangerous with the boggy shore and false shoreline that you could fall through. I hung out at our property playing in the creek, or fishing in the bog on 50th and 200th in the Northwest corner. It was loaded with catfish and an occasional trout from Swamp Creek. I also spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ before it became a park. I had a bicycle and a BB gun, pretty much lived the dream.”

1958: Eugene, the patriarch of the family, then in his early 70s, began to show signs of memory loss.

1960s: A decade of drastic change for the Wilcox family and Scriber Lake

1961: The newly incorporated City of Lynnwood stated that they were interested in taking possession of the remaining 10 acres of land inhabited by Eugene and Goody and creating the city’s first public park. After lengthy discussions, it was agreed that seven acres of property would be released, with the understanding that the land would be used only as a public park. The agreement also allowed Goody and Eugene to retain their family home on the remaining three acres, which sat on the northeast hillside overlooking the proposed park.

1962: On Jan. 21, 1962, the patriarch of the Wilcox family, Eugene Wilcox Sr., died at the age of 74, after battling Alzheimer’s for several years.

1962: In July, Wilcox Park is established as the first park in Lynnwood.

1964: Al, who had been working in the construction industry for nearly 20 years, started his own business, Wilcox Construction Inc., while initially working out of a trailer in front of his home. His commercial construction business’ stated goal was “to provide performance, product and service that consistently exceed our client’s expectations.” Under Al’s leadership, and later with guidance from his son Bob and his business partner Jim Lessard, Wilcox Construction grew to become one of the most respected commercial construction firms in the Northwest and beyond.

Author’s note: Fittingly, Al’s first job was to build two tire stores on 196th Street, one almost directly across from his home and a few blocks from Scriber Lake.

1965: It was decided that 196th Southwest needed to be widened to a four-lane highway to handle the increased automobile traffic in the area. Due to the previous problems with the bridge pilings and road north of Scriber Lake, the engineers deemed it necessary to take a different approach. Instead of using pilings to support the bridge and road, the road would be moved approximately 30 yards south, and fill would be used for support. That decision proved disastrous in many ways.

Harold: “Unfortunately as the fill was building up it was also being forced into Scriber Lake. The contractor dumped all kinds of material including debris taken from clearing being done for the construction of I-5 including buildings that had been demolished. A contractor almost lost a bulldozer.

“Environmental concerns were not in the scheme of things back then; there was no concern about the effect the fill would have on Scriber Lake. As it turned out, the effect was disastrous to the lake. This was very unfortunate because the lake and area had begun to be pristine again.”

Author’s note: In talking with longtime Edmonds resident Steve Pennington, Steve recalls the 196th Southwest construction project being called “The bedspring fill” due to the amount of housing debris that was being dumped into the fill from houses being demolished near I-5. Others have related that washing machines, refrigerators and doors/windows were also a part of the fill.

1966: To widen 196th Southwest, a significant portion of Al and Irene Wilcox’ property was required. This resulted in the movement of their family to a new home in Edmonds.

1967: The original house the Wilcox family moved into 35 years earlier was the victim of an electrical fire. After the fire, the house was deemed uninhabitable. Goody’s subsequent short-term move into Al’s new home in Edmonds marked the first time that the Wilcox family had not resided on or near Scriber Lake in 41 years.

Author’s note: Goody stayed at Al’s Edmonds residence for a short period then moved to Port Angeles for several years, before moving back to downtown Edmonds. Goody died on Nov. 9, 1982, at 88 years of age.

In reflection

The earliest descriptions of Scriber Lake are one of a pristine clear lake with marshy areas along some parts of the shoreline. The lake was home to trout, crappies, bass and other species that would have done well in the marshy areas.

Wildlife was abundant and it was a playground for the Wilcox children and others during both the summer and winter months.

In the 1920s and 1930s it was also the home to a heavily frequented resort inclusive of overnight cabins, swimming pool, canoe rentals and a dance hall.

As the population grew, questionable decisions were made regarding increasing traffic flow along the north shore of the lake in the 1930s and 1960s. There was little or no regard for the lake nor the people, animals and plants that lived in and around it.

In 1982, more than a decade after the Wilcox family departed, the City of Lynnwood purchased 22 acres of land including Scriber Lake and established a park directly across from where Wilcox Park had been formed 20 years earlier. Since the 1982 purchase, there have been several attempts over the years to bring Scriber Lake back to near its original beauty, with a mixture of success.

Now, in 2025, the City of Lynnwood — after receiving grants totaling approximately $5.6 million — is funding the construction of an accessible boardwalk trail, two wildlife viewpoints and other improvements to enhance the Scriber Lake Park experience and protect the natural environment. These projects are scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2026.

Regarding the land that the City of Lynnwood obtained through its agreement with Goody and Eugene Wilcox: Wilcox Park, so aptly named, provides a year-round playground for people of all ages. Combined, Scriber Lake Park and Wilcox Park hopefully will provide ample opportunities for playing and enjoying nature on the same ground that the Wilcox children played on nearly 100 years ago.

In closing

If you can visit Wilcox Park, walk up the small hill on the east side of the park, underneath the trees.

Just beyond the hillside you will find a picnic shelter and a large stone monument. Carved into the face of the stone are the names of Eugene and Goody Wilcox and each of their children. The covered picnic shelter was donated to the city by the Wilcox Family’s Loving Trust. It is a reminder of why Lynnwood’s first park carries the Wilcox Park name. This is a family with a proud heritage.

Thanks go to the Wilcox family members, especially Bob Wilcox who assisted in the research of this article. Additional thanks go to Cheri Ryan at the Lynnwood-Alderwood Manor Heritage Association and Museum, Sno-Isle Genealogical Society, Edmonds Historical Museum, Steve Pennington and others who provided insight into the rich history of Scriber Lake and the Wilcox family.