Captain Larry Nolan Hilty

On December 7th, 2023, “Captain” Larry Nolan Hilty passed away at his home in Bellingham, WA. Larry was born to Leta LaVerne and Edwin Ralph Hilty on October 20th, 1952, at City of Roses Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Larry spent his early years in Jackpot, Nevada, educated in a one-room schoolhouse near the Horseshu Club Resort and Casino where Edwin Hilty was the manager and Leta Hilty was the bookkeeper. Here he met many notable performers of the era as they traveled north from Las Vegas, including Johnny Cash, whose hand Larry is alleged to have shaken sometime during one of Mr. Cash’s amphetamine-fueled slot machine benders and before a 2:00am jackrabbit hunting session in the Nevada desert.

Larry graduated from Columbia High School in Richland, WA, near the Hanford Nuclear Reserve (Go Bombers!), and subsequently moved west to Bellingham in 1970. For nearly 50 years, Larry’s work as a welder kept him connected to various maritime industries: oil tankers at Wight Marine, and then the greater Pacific Northwest commercial fishing fleet with his build-design business, Dockside Machine. In the early 1990s, Larry built the 60-foot purse seiner, Vis Ketchikan, followed by seven custom aluminum, multi-purpose boats, a series that he eventually titled “Alaska 27.” Larry’s 9th and final boat remains unfinished.

Some of the greatest joys in his life were visiting with and babysitting his grandchildren, June and Graham, and any time spent on or dreaming about the waters between the Puget Sound and Southeast Alaska. Larry is survived by his son Zachary Hilty (wife Libby Duke), daughter Maggie Burnett (husband Damon Burnett), grandchildren June and Graham Burnett, and wife Barbara.

A memorial service is planned for the summer of 2024, where Larry’s cremated remains will be reunited with his heart – at sea.