Howard Edward Makela

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, uncle, friend, Howard Edward Makela. Howard died March 29, 2024 at the age of 68, after an accident while working on the Gayle (aka Moriah Lee) a Makela Bros. built boat, in the Noyo Harbor.

Born and raised in Fort Bragg, CA, Howard spent his youth roaming the Pudding Creek area with friends, raising animals and produce in 4H, skimboarding and swimming at Pudding Creek beach, fishing, and spending hours absorbing the craft of wooden boat building and repair at his dad, and uncle's boat shop on the Noyo river. Howard had a front row seat to their commercial fishing operation during the salmon season, and boat building and repair in the off season, where he absorbed both the demands of salmon fishing, and the finer points of wooden boat building and repair, which he took to with enthusiasm.

At the age of sixteen, Howard bought his first salmon boat and earned enough money to buy a larger boat, the Katy Ann, and later a 49-foot Makela built salmon troller, the Sea Wolf.

In 1983 he met his future wife, Mary, and her three-year old daughter, Macaella. A friendship grew and blossomed into love, leading to marriage.

Howard embraced his new family with love, and a dedication to providing a good home. A year after their marriage, the family welcomed another daughter, Kiersten.

In the early years of their marriage, during salmon season, Mary and the girls would go out to the headlands to watch Howard depart on a fishing trip. They waited in anticipation for a radio call announcing his return from a multi-day trip, whereupon the trio would hurry to the harbor to greet him. In the off-season Howard was kept busy at the shop, repairing the local fishing fleet.

After a few years Howard decided that being gone for much of late spring and all summer, wasn't what he wanted for his family, and he turned to wooden boat repair and building full time. It was during this period that he met Dean Stevens, who became his mentor in the fine woodworking required in building pleasure craft.

Howard spent the next 30 years keeping the Noyo fishing fleet afloat; the demand for new wooden trollers had fallen off as many turned to steel boats, but the Noyo Harbor was full of wooden boats, many of them Makela built trollers, that needed regular attention. Howard was dedicated to his craft, continuously improving and refining, learning new techniques, and always maintaining an attention to detail. Over the years he became a master craftsman, an artisan, and his skill, honesty and integrity are known up and down the west coast, and beyond.

Howard loved building new boats best (the Downunder, the Idora, the Legacy, the Makela Joy, and most recently the Tern), from setting the keel (after weeks, if not months, finding the perfect log to cut the keel) to the final work of attaching the bright work, with every inch built by his hands alone, with the exception at times when young family members (nephew Clinton Gibney while building the Legacy, and daughter Kiersten while building the Makela Joy) apprenticed with him.

Howard's shop was visited often by friends stopping by for a chat, and by those looking to 'get on the calendar' for either haulout or repairs. Howard's integrity showed in his daily logs. While he would be at work from 8:00 sharp until 5:30 or 6:00 in the evening, his log might read "7.5 hrs./bullshitters," to account for the friends who dropped by to chat, and "looky-loos" who walked in the shop just to look around and ask questions while he continued to work.

Howard was a hard-worker, always busy maintaining the shop and his home, but he also made time for enjoyable pursuits. He was an avid reader (he loved a good spy thriller) and made sure to keep up on world and national news with newspapers and political magazines (when Mary was busy teaching, she counted on his knowledge of geography and what was happening in the world to keep her abreast of current events).

Howard loved to take the family for picnics at the river or beach and camping trips to Ruth Lake. He was a wonderful father to his girls and later Papa to his grandchildren, spending time talking with them, playing games, and being silly. Since his daughters were teenagers, many family dinners ended with him turning on music, and the whole family dancing and laughing for hours.

Howard always loved to travel and see new places, but his favorite place was Hanalei Bay in Kaua'i, where he loved to swim, explore, and relax for a few weeks every summer. It was here that he discovered a love of hiking, finding new trails every year with amazing vistas. Hiking became a passion, and wherever they traveled to, he and Mary sought out local trails. Most recently Howard enjoyed hiking the rugged Wallowa mountains with his brother Eric, and nephew Nigel.

Howard was a huge presence in the lives of his family and friends, to whom it felt like he could fix or do anything. He was always there to lend a hand or an ear, and the void created by his death is immeasurable. He was our rock, our superman, our hero. Preceded in death by his father and mother (Fred and Marcet) and uncle (Nick), Howard leaves behind wife Mary, daughters Macaella (Mike) and Kiersten (Moshe), grandchildren Alexia, Piper, Isla, Ross, Ella, and Eli, sister Kathleen (Bill), brother Eric (Missy), numerous nieces and nephews, best friend Mark West, along with countless other family and friends.

A Celebration of Life will be held on June 1, 2024 at 1:00 pm, at the Noyo Harbor Fisherman's Memorial park by the boat basin, South Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg.