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USS Whitehurst Logo by: Pat Stephens, Webmaster, DESA


Hugh Toney BT3 1951
Article prepared posthumously by Donna Toney

Hugh Toney ca 1951	Hugh & Donna 2002

Hugh arrived in Spokane as soon as he left the Navy. He came to see his brother stationed at Fairchild AFB. Went to work for the Northern Pacific Railroad. It was outside work, and it was one of the coldest winters we had in ages. After years in the Pacific he almost froze to death. So he went to work for the Kaiser rolling mill in Trentwood. Worked there for a while till the shift work got to him. Then he started to work for the construction companies in and around Spokane doing Heavy Equipment work on roads an Dams. Hugh worked on Grand Coulee Dam, as a welder on Boundary Dam, Then for Betchel on the island of New Guinea on the West Iran site, putting in a road to the gold mine. They flew the equipment in pieces and landed them on top of the ridges, assembled it, and away it went. Next he worked for for N. C. Fabic in Alaska on the haul road for the Pipeline as a Warranty Mechanic for Caterpillar equipment. After that finished he worked for Alyeska on the Pipeline. He worked from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez on both jobs, staying at camps along the way. Then for different Mines outside of Fairbanks, Alaska, and Mellonies California, Humboldt Nevada, and a few more contractors in between. Finally retired and moved to Colorado. All the while keeping track of his family. Hugh passed away in February 2008. P.S. If Hugh had written this, it would have the dates of the jobs.