Frank Prothero, Builder Of Boats, Dies -- His 91 Years Saw Wood- Ship Era End

Frank M. Prothero, one of Seattle's most revered boat builders, a man who personified the way Seattle used to be, has died.

Mr. Prothero, 91, died Saturday at his son's Lynnwood home.

"I sat up with him for awhile Friday," William Prothero said, "and we talked about the shop. He knew he was in deep trouble for about a week."

About a year ago, the Lake Union boathouse that had been Mr. Prothero's shop for years, the one where he'd started building his masterpiece, a 65-foot schooner named the Glory of the Seas, was destroyed by fire.

The Glory herself was saved.

Mr. Prothero's life, which began Aug. 21, 1905, in South Seattle,

centered on a culture that once formed the soul of the city, when it was a world-renowned seaport.

Mr. Prothero, whose family heritage of boat building stretched back to Wales, started working with boats before he was 10 and later came to build such famous craft as the Alcyone. But Mr. Prothero also foresaw the demise of wooden ships, and his Lake Union yard closed in 1959. Retirement lasted only eight months, however, before Mr. Prothero started building the Glory.

"If you don't keep moving, you're dead, boy," he often remarked.

Mr. Prothero is also survived by his wife, Gladys, three grandchildren and a great-grandson.

Funeral services will be tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Bleitz Funeral Home, 316 Florentia St., in Seattle. Remembrances are suggested to the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union.