Thea Christiansen Foss
Personal Information
Born: 1858
Died: 1927
Country of Birth: Norway
Nationality: Norwegian/American
Ethnicity: White
Education
dropped out of school at age 14
""the law imprinted in all men's hearts is to love one another. I will look to the whole world as my Country and all men as my brothers. We are made for cooperation and to act against one another is to act contrary to nature" (historylink.org); "
— Thea Christiansen Foss
Professional Life
Field of Study: Transportation Entrepreneur
Institution/Corporation: Foss Maritime Company; Daughters of Norway
Degrees & Memberships: Member: Daughters of Norway of Tacoma (1907)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1981 Washington State Centennial Hall of Honor
Achievements: 1889 founder of Foss Maritime- the largest tugboat company in the western United States;
was the real-life person on which the fictional character "Tugboat Annie" (originally portrayed on film in 1933 by Marie Dressler) may have been very loosely based
The Thea Foss Waterway, a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) mile inlet in Tacoma's industrial area, and connected to Puget Sound, is named after her
was particularly known for her skill with Norwegian pastries
she & her husband smoothed the way for dozens of immigrants, providing employment, explaining American customs, and helping them prepare for citizenship exams
had a lifelong fear of being on the water
although boats built by her family usually bore the names of family members she preferred to remain out of the public eye & no boat was named after her until she was dead
her funeral procession was the largest ever seen in Tacoma
immigrated to the US in 1881
The Thea Foss was the only yacht purchased & refurbished by her company & was relaunched in 1933
2004 the Thea Foss Lodge of the Daughters of Norway was instituted in Chimacun WA
a 6524-foot mountain in the Tatoosh Range of Mount Rainier National Park is named Foss Peak after her
she left school at 14 to work & financially help her family
she & her husband (Andreas later known as Andrew) Oleson changed their last name to Fossen (Norwegian for waterfall) & later shortened it to Foss
she created the company's motto "Always Ready"
2006 a documentary titled "Finding Thea" about her life was released & won some rewards
1889 learned English while traveling from Minnesota to Tacoma by train with her 3 children to reunite with Andrew
purchased her first rowboat for $5, repaired it & painted it white with green trim-colors still used on all the companies boats
treated employees as family, cooking for them & eventually building a boardinghouse onto their home to house employees
reduced her role in the company in 1914 after the death of her 25 year-old daughter from tuberculosis
has been called The Mother of Tacoma Shipping
always had coffee brewing on her stove & would often stop to have a cup & conversation with her customers & employees
lived on the houseboat Andrew built in Tacoma from 1889 to 1914 when he built her a home on dry land
1915 the original boathouse was towed to Salmon Beach where it was used as a family retreat cabin but there is no longer any trace of it