Bayview Historical Society BAYVIEW, ID

dedicated to preserving the history of Bayview, Lakeview and other locations on Lake Pend Oreille

Thomas R. Krotzer and Thomas J. Krotzer - Bayview

Thomas R. Krotzer grew up in Bayview and attended the Bayview Elementary School. (In photo at right he is at the far right of the first row with his hands on his little step-brother Bill.) At the time of his graduation from the eighth grade in 1931 his teacher was Georgia Wollschlager.  His father, Thomas J. Krotzer, was chairman of the school board.  The family lived at the end of Merriweather Street. (shown below)

Tom was the youngest son of Thomas J. and Mary Sawley Krotzer.  His parents married in Coeur d’Alene in 1900.  The couple had five children: Morris, Lena, Helen, Esther and then Thomas R. who was born in 1917.  The family moved to Bayview about 1920. 

His dad also owned a large boat called the Nipigon, which was built in Ontario, Canada, and shipped by rail to Bayview.  The senior Tom Krotzer had been a steamboat captain on Lake Coeur d’Alene prior to moving to Bayview, working for the Red Collar Line piloting such boats as the St. Maries, Harrison, Miss Spokane and Georgie Oakes. Thomas J. divorced Mary and married the Bayview schoolteacher Nellie Flint in 1924.  (on left Tom and Nel are standing next to the Nipigon in 1926.)  She had two daughters, Barbara and Marjorie, and son, Billy, from a previous marriage.  Tom operated a dock/marina at Bayview where the Nipigon was berthed.  (right)

Tom’s grandfather Henry Alonzo and wife Paulina were the original Krotzers to come to Idaho They had 4 children and homesteaded in Coeur d’Alene on land that is now part of the downtown area. Henry had a dock, bath house and boat livery business on the lake front opposite the Sherman Park addition and also owned a shop where he built rowboats to be used on the lake.  At one point Henry operated the steamer Swiftwater.

At a young age Tom followed in the family tradition of operating boats and loved to help his dad run the Nipigon (on left peering from front window) on Lake Pend Oreille when he was just fourteen years old.  One summer he took a job with the Forest Service as a lookout at the Cape Horn Lookout station.  A local girl, Doris Puckett Moorehead, remembered climbing to the top of Cape Horn with Alice Hammond Eaton to visit him.  Tom graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School.  He attended the University of Idaho for one year and worked in the area until he enlisted in the Army Air Corp, serving for 4 years during World War II as a radioman in England, North Africa and Italy. (right) He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of warrant officer.

He returned from service and married Betty Shireman in Coeur d’Alene in 1945.  The couple set up housekeeping in Spokane, where Tom started a counter top business in ’46 called Krotzer Cabinets, later named Tri Form Top Company.  Originally located at E. 725 Francis, the business moved to 819 E. Rosewood in 1962.  Tom and Betty had three boys:  Thomas Orton, Mark Douglas and Timothy.  Betty also had a daughter, Nancy, from a previous marriage.  All three boys worked in the business.  Betty died in 1981 and Tom remarried.  The family often returned to the lake to visit friends.

In the early 1980s Tom developed a passion for flying after visiting Henley Airport (now Silverwood Theme Park).  He took flying lessons and ordered an experimental airplane kit which he constructed in the back of his shop.  It was called an “Avid Flyer” and came from Caldwell, Idaho.  He flew that tiny single-seater several years before investing in a Cesna.  Tom passed away in 2002.

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