The Norman and Joyce Smith Family in Ouzinkie, 1958 – 1976
By Timothy Smith, March, 2020
The Norman and Joyce Smith Family In Ouzinkie
A Scrapbook, 1958 — 1976
A Photo Album About Growing Up in Ouzinkie, Alaska
Introduction to “The Norman and Joyce Smith Family in Ouzinkie”
When our family returned to Alaska after spending the 1957-
This article is mostly a scrapbook of Rev. Norman and Joyce Smith’s two youngest
kids, Tim and Kelly. We both are Kodiak born, and spent our grade school years in
Ouzinkie. Our older siblings are included as much as possible, but by the mid-
Above: There’s a formal (successful) version of this 1962 photo shoot in the chapel of Baker Cottage in Ouzinkie on the left. But on the right is “family photo” failure at its finest.
From left rear: Robin looks normal, Noel’s eyes are closed, Jerilynn is staring solemnly off into the distance. Front row: Dad is distracted by something to his left, Mom looks pretty normal, Kelly looks dazed, and I’m smiling happily at my little brother. Give it enough years and it starts to look hilarious.
My older brother Noel had the least amount of time in Ouzinkie, since he was already about to graduate from high school when we moved.
Above Left: Noel holds baby Kelly in the kitchen in Ouzinkie in 1959 (18 years difference in age!)
My oldest sister, Jerilynn, also had a limited time in Ouzinkie, although she did come back to help at Camp Woody and on the Evangel for several summers, including its last season in 1964.
Above Right: Jerilynn on the “Merry-
Right: the family in Ouzinkie, minus Noel, 1963. I’m stylin’ with a sport jacket and red shoes!
Robin, my sister, is my next older sibling, 6 years older than me. She was junior
high age when we moved to Ouzinkie, and so she also was out of the village by the
mid-
Clockwise from top: Robin and Timmy in the living room in Ouzinkie, about 1960. Dad and Robin on the stern of the Evangel, summer of 1963 (Polaroid “Swinger” photo) and Robin with little brother Kelly on Cat Island (Prokoda) near Ouzinkie, summer of 1966.
Timmy’s Turn! I had the same problem that many photographers do, namely not as many photos of me as I took of others. It was not the era of selfies!
Clockwise from top: Standing solemnly at Kelly’s dedication, with my parents and Dr. John Molletti of the Community Baptist Church in Kodiak officiating. Kelly looks suitably angelic! Next, I’m standing outside the new Ouzinkie store being constructed, holding on to some scaffolding, 1965. Bottom Right: I’m at the second table in the dining room doing a paint by number as the snow collects around the windows, probably around 1966. Bottom Left: painting the front porch of baker Cottage in 1966, showing off uses for Blazo boxes.
Left: Tim in the Mission’s darkroom in 1966.
I took up photography in 1964, and began to use a darkroom in 1965. The enlarger is on the left, and photo paper (mostly expired military surplus) is in one of the Blazo boxes at my elbow. I was definitely in my dorky phase in this photo!
Left: I play my horrible Airline (Wards) guitar in the dorm in Kodiak, 1970.
My first guitar was a plastic one with a huge graphic on the front that said, “The
Romancer.” Dad bought it for $5 from a teacher on one of his village trips. I was
teased mercilessly. That nearly killed my career on the spot! The Wards guitar was
much better looking and sounding, but was difficult to play. Later that year I bought
a lovely-
Kelly’s Turn! As the last kid in the family with older siblings and parents who all had cameras, Kelly was doomed to be photographed often!
Top Left: Kelly’s first bath, on the dining room table in Ouzinkie. Top Right: Dad and Kelly (a few months old) sharing a moment. Left: Kelly on his first birthday, on the Evangel.
Kelly was the last crewmember of the Evangel. Literally the last Smith to be born, he ended up being the last person to pilot the boat under its own power, on a trip from Kodiak to Ouzinkie and back in 1978. Here are three photos from the Evangel’s last island voyage before the Baptists discontinued its ministry in 1964.
Top Left: Kelly posing for big sister Robin on the Evangel in Larsen Bay, 1964. Top and Bottom Right: Kelly at Village Islands, 1964, with Nan and Daniel Boone Reed, and the artifacts Dan had collected (photos by biggest sister Jerilynn).
Ouzinkie had no motorized vehicles at all until around 1961, when someone donated
a Gibson garden tractor to my Dad. Then when Johnny Pan got his, all of us kids felt
like we were really uptown! But the coming of gravel roads in the mid-
Below: my brother Kelly, on his way to being a mechanical whiz, plays on Dad’s tractor in 1962. Center: Dad’s about to pull the cord to start the tractor, while, Kelly and I hitch a ride, 1964. Bottom: Dad and Kelly haul freight to the skiff in 1966, past one of the few buildings salvaged from the cannery after the Tidal Wave.
Kelly’s Interests Become Apparent
Above Left: Kelly, Dad’s best sidekick and assistant, walking up to Baker Cottage, 1971. The “Fat Tree” is between them. Top Right: Kelly going for a Grumman Goose ride with Kodiak Airways, around 1966. Kelly would later work for them! Bottom Right: Kelly with my classical guitar. Kelly went on to be my musical teammate at Camp Woody for five years, and later became music minister at a church in Anchorage.
Right: Kelly rides his bike on the dock in Ouzinkie in 1967 (sister Jerilynn’s photo).
On that same bike about three years later, Kelly slipped off the dock, landing on soft sand within inches of a large rock. He broke his leg and had to spend the next several months in traction in the Kodiak hospital.
Below Left: Tim and Kelly on the beach in Larsen Bay, 1964. Below Right: Tim (with
camera, of course) and Kelly sit on the “teeter-
Being the youngest, and the two born in Alaska, Kelly and I were natural pals from earliest times. Kelly, more serious and inclined to decorum than I, was almost like my older brother half the time, although six years younger. Having years of working with him at Camp Woody was a highlight of my young adulthood, and he’s a frequent visitor at our new home in Idaho.
Kelly and Sootball the dog on Otherside Trail near the Mission’s well, in 1966, and in 1998 between the same two trees.
Top and Left: Our first Ouzinkie cat
Gypsy the cat, who probably had some “Russian Blue” in her, was the mama of at least
three of the other cats we had over the years. But alas, all of our cats eventually
lost out to the semi-
The Great Dog, Oscar!
Oscar, the great and noble Black Lab and German Shepherd mix (probably). He knew lots of tricks, was a loyal sidekick, adapted to what we were doing — even to the point of lowering his head during our table prayers, and seemed to read our minds.
Left: Oscar’s favorite royal pose.
Below Left: a shot from Kelly’s first roll of film in 1966, Oscar and I resting before we return home from a hike.
Below Right: Dad subjected Oscar to a vacuuming after he rolled in the dirt; facial expressions tell it all!
OK, I apologize (a little), but we must include photos of our pets, because especially
in the case of Oscar the Dog, Kelly and I both considered him our fuzzy-
Smith Gallery of Pets!
Right: Oscar watches patiently as Frosty, Gypsy, and an unnamed kitten hang out around him. He let the kittens sleep on him, and was very gentle with them.
Below Left:, Kelly playing piano in the living room and to the far right, is our dove’s cage, The dove would respond by cooing whenever anyone played the piano.
Below Right: The dove would also fly around the room whenever let out of the cage, and land on my finger or shoulder. (1973, 1972 photos)
Debbie Sullens (the future Mrs. Tim) at Ouzinkie
Debbie Sullens came up to Camp Woody as a counselor in 1975. And in August, 1976, she returned to Alaska to visit us, and we got engaged. Debbie joined our family in Ouzinkie for Christmas in 1976, the time period of the photos below.
We married in 1977 at Camp Woody (see the Woody article that covers that year). And we’ve been married since then, ending our teaching careers and moving to Idaho in 2018. We’ve been enjoying remodeling our house, traveling to spend time with our married children and their spouses, getting more involved with church, and generally being good little retired people. But in 1998, our kids Kirsti and Nathan joined us in Ouzinkie to celebrate Christmas with grandma Joyce. We got to cut down our own Christmas tree from Grandma’s back yard, build snowmen, and experience all sorts of fun and memorable events.
Above Left: A portrait I took of Debbie by hanging a blanket over the upstairs hall indoor clothesline and putting an ancient flood bulb in the socket over the stairs. Above Right: Debbie in the living room with our 1976 Christmas tree. Right: A “cute” photo Mom took of us sharing a soda.
In Conclusion: Rev. Norman and Joyce Smith in Action
Rev. Norman and Joyce Smith (Dad and Mom) did not spend much time taking pictures of each other, and often left themselves out of the group pictures from the activities they were leading. So here are some photos (some surreptitious) of Dad and Mom in daily life, besides what their official “Missionary” duties called for. Thank you for letting me share with you my great collection of photos of Ouzinkie people, and for sharing these family photos I threw in, too. Ouzinkie was a fabulous place to grow up! – Timothy Smith, March, 2020
Below: What was expected of Dad
Pastor and worship leader, and captain of the Mission Boat Evangel
About the above photo shoot:
In the summer of 1976, life was very uncertain for Norman and Joyce. Dad had been involuntarily retired (officially his ministry had been discontinued) and it looked like they would have to move to a little church somewhere to pastor there. They needed photos and a biography, same as anyone seeking a job. So they looked to me to do their photos, and I did a photo shoot in the woods on Woody Island.
The above photos are about the middle and the last shots. The first one looked like they were at a funeral, but somehow I got them laughing, and the last one still makes me giggle. It was a real blessing to them and the whole family that a way opened up for them to stay in Ouzinkie, and they both stayed there for the rest of their lives. It was exactly what they both wanted.
Below: What Dad also had to do (to be able to fulfill his “official” duties)
Filling fuel tanks, writing endless letters, running to town in the skiff, and always hauling something with his tractor or three wheeler. This is only the short list!
Below: What was expected of Mom (the unpaid permanent assistant to Dad)
Bible teacher, kindergarten teacher, worship leader.
Below: What Mom also had to do (besides her “official” duties)
Helping sick people as the Village Health Aide, writing lots of letters, baking kulich, doing laundry (with Dad). This is obviously the short list!
And together they raised all five of us!
Below: A bunch of family photos of us getting raised. The color photo below is a portrait taken at the Community Baptist Church right after the family arrived in Alaska to live, in 1952. Neither Kelly nor I had arrived yet, so we literally wait in the wings on either side.
Above Clockwise from Left: Dad, me, and Noel in Larsen Bay, 1956, Jerilynn and Robin in their matching outfits, Larsen Bay, 1955. Dad, Kelly, and me in Ouzinkie in 1968, and Bottom: Mom and Robin, summer of 1951, looking at the Evangel anchored off Mission Beach, with Woody Island in the background.
Below: Another unfortunate family photo that I dug up. Approximately 1957, in Larsen Bay.
Analysis: Noel’s doing ok, although he may have shut his eyes. Dad’s doing great. Jerilynn looks puzzled. Mom is watching me, because I look like I want to murder someone. And Robin looks like she can’t believe what she just heard. Just another fine family photo! And Kelly was spared all of this because he was yet to arrive.
In Memoriam: Norman and Joyce Smith
Below: Mom and Dad celebrate their 20th anniversary, in Ouzinkie, in 1960. Bottom: Dad and Mom in Ouzinkie, late 1980’s.
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