Hugh Howison Polson

Hugh had lived his life as the original "Quiet Man", although in his later years, his favorite activity was to talk and discuss all he had seen in his long life. He was also a "mountain man" who loved hunting, fishing and wandering about the Sierras. He built a wonderful cabin at Shaver Lake with no paid labor. He had a yearly habit of going to Montana hunting and went the last time at age 80, getting both his elk and venison.

His best friend and love of his life was his wife, Mary Virginia. They met in their teens in Clovis and had a long happy marriage of 67 years. He took care of Mary toward the end of her life when she had many strokes. He made a joke of those who don't know how to do commitment. He was fond of saying, "We had such a good life." They went on trips all over Canada, the U.S. and rode the Orient Express to Venice. Mary was always the girl for him.

You can't talk about Hugh without saying some of his best friends were his series of black Labrador Retrievers. He always had "good dogs" because they all loved him.

His only child, Sharon was born in 1942 as a premature baby, but with his and her mother's excellent care, lived to care for them at the end of their lives.

Hugh began his working life during the Depression. He picked fruit, worked in mountain saw mills, worked in a dairy, and did mechanic work. He went to Los Angeles to work on building the Brown Derby and saw the stars. All the while his mechanical talent was coming out. When he and Mary married, he worked for Lockheed in Burbank during the war building B17's and P38's. Then he went into the U.S. Navy. He ran his own welding shop in Sanger with his partner Bob Snyder. Then he went to Vendo Company as a tool and die maker, and finishing out his working career as the Manager of the Tool Shop.

Hugh was born in Riverside, California in 1916. His family moved back to Clovis where his sister was born. The family spent several years in the mountains where Hugh spent a lot of time with his Dad driving from place to place with a moving grocery store, but the family settled in Clovis where he lived until he was married. Hugh and Mary came back to Fresno after the war, often visiting Seattle where their only daughter lived with three grandsons. They were so helpful to their daughter in the crisis of her young husband dying unexpectedly.

Hugh loved hunting and fishing, raising Lab dogs, and was an excellent golfer. He was a Mason greater than 4th Degree so belonged to the Scottish Rite Temple, was a Shriner and a Novkep. He helped his sister-in-law Betty Ramacher walk her precincts for County Supervisor and enjoyed the whole process. He was a lifelong Democrat.

He gave meaning to the phrase, "a good man". But he was also funny and talented, a crack shot and could build anything. He was a "Man's man" but had a wonderful relationship with his daughter. He had seen so much history and enjoyed it. He had a twinkle in his eye that we will all miss. He was the Rock of Gibraltar to his family. The world is not so safe a place without Hugh Polson in it.

He was preceded in death by wife, Mary Virginia; his parents Carl and Minnie; his sister Miriam; and his son-in-law Richard.

Hugh Polson is survived by his daughter, Sharon Harris of Seattle; three grandsons, Michael Harris, Matthew Harris, and Curtis Stevens; three great-grandchildren, Gabriel, Isabel, and Evan; and a nephew, Chris Wasson.

A Masonic Service will be held at Stephens and Bean Chapel on Saturday, April 6, 2013, at 11:00 am.