Gary Coy is the son of Walt who owned and operated Coy's White Center Theatre, located on 16th S.W. next door to Olberg's Thrifty drug and later on Roxbury Street across from Gould and Ackley, attorneys. Walt also opened Coy's Highline Theatre on First Avenue South in a Quonset hut that once served as housing for American troops. Gary grew up helping his dad in the theatre as usher, janitor, ticket taker and monitoring exit doors to chase teens sneaking in.

He now owns huge chunks of Tacoma waterfront, where he leases to ship owners (some larger than 1,000 feet) for moorage and loading.

His dad once owned a 42-foot cruiser, Dorothy, and Gary spent a lot of his youth aboard. One dark night they smashed into an unlit sawdust barge and started sinking. Walt pulled off a miracle and threw an anchor up onto the deck of the barge and it stuck. Though the Dorothy was sinking, the family of five was able to scramble into the 12-foot dinghy they had onboard and hang on while the Coast Guard brought the tug and barge to a halt.

His dad sued the barge owner and won, and he had the diesel cruiser rebuilt.

Historian Jerry may be reached at publisher@robinsonnews.com