Obituary: PFI founder dies

Stephen Knight

July 30, 2009.

On July 28th, 2009 Robert Magnus Thorstenson, Sr. passed away peacefully with his entire family by his side. He had survived Parkinson’s disease for over three decades but succumbed to side effects of a fall related to his long term illness. The grandson of Icelandic immigrants, he was born to Ella and Laugi Thorstenson on December 23, 1931, in Vancouver, BC, which was the closest hospital to their home in Point Roberts, Washington. He was extremely proud of his Icelandic heritage.

At the age of 13, his father was severely injured in a tractor fire and Robert (Bob) took over management of the family farm for the entire year. He graduated from Blaine High School in 1949 and after two years of service in the Navy attended the University of Washington, where he was Co-Captain of the Husky Crew team and graduated in 1956. Upon graduation he was employed as a commercial purse seine deckhand as well as a tender operator before embarking upon a career in the commercial fish processing business.

From 1959-1964 he rose from assistant cannery Superintendent in Petersburg to General Superintendent of all Alaskan operations of Pacific American Fisheries.

In 1963 he had married the love of his life, Pamela (Martens) Thorstenson. Once Pacific American Fisheries decided to sell it’s operations in 1965, he formed a group of fishermen to purchase the Petersburg plant, naming it Petersburg Fisheries, which was later to become Icicle Seafoods. His major partners, Tom Thompson, Magnus Martens and Gordon Jensen all preceded Bob in death. This tight knit group, along with dozens of commercial fishermen, originally owned the entire company and they immediately formed an ESOP program so that employees could benefit from the company’s success. This was the first truly all-Alaskan seafood processing company. Upon the sale of Icicle in 2007, 62% of the company was owned by its employees and the rest by management and several of the original investors.

Bob served as CEO and Chairman of the Board from 1965-1981, Chairman of the Board from 1982-1991, and Board member from 1992-2007. His vision led the company and the Alaska seafood industry into new markets, new products and led to a major shift from a policy of ‘outside’ resource extraction that had plagued the Alaska seafood industry to a cooperative policy of sharing the profits with the fishermen and employees. He never had enemies. He believed that “a little competition is good for everyone” and was good friends with nearly all of his major competitors in the Alaska seafood industry.

Mr. Thorstenson believed in giving back to the community and was involved as Chairman of the Petersburg School Board, Chamber of Commerce and he was appointed by 4 different US Presidents to the International Pacific Fisheries Commission (where during his service the 200 mile limit was initiated). In his later years he served on the board of the Nordic Heritage Museum and co-produced 7 commercial fishing videos with his friend John Sabella. In 1992 he was named Northwest Fisheries Association Man of the Year and in 2009 he was honored by the United Fishermen of Alaska as one of the initial inductees into the Alaska Seafood Industry Hall of Fame.

He was once referred to by a prominent Alaskan politician as a “legend before his time” and Bob certainly lived up to that billing. He never boasted about his accomplishments, instead choosing to share his successes, both the credit and the wealth, with his business associates, fishermen and employees. He once said that he was only good at choosing talented people and allowing them to do their jobs.

After his retirement from Icicle in 1990, Bob enjoyed listening to classical music, singing, puttering in his garden, and maintaining relationships with old friends and making new ones.

Mr. Thorstenson is survived by his wife of 46 years, Pamela, his children Bob Jr.(Gina) of Shoreline, Washington, Tani (Leif) Stenfjord of Shoreline, Washington, Peder (Kathleen) Thorstenson of Stafford, Oregon, and his twin sister Sylvia Thorstenson Schonberg. He was also blessed by 10 grandchildren: Sylvi, Magnus, Ingrid, and Robert Gunnar Thorstenson; Thor, Annika and Anders Stenfjord; and Connor, Margaret and Elizabeth Thorstenson. Mr. Thorstenson was a quiet doer of good deeds and he lived his life to the fullest, helping thousands of people in the commercial fishing community of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. He was a living example of the axiom that “actions speak louder than words”.

A graveside service will be held on Wednesday August 5th at 3:30, with a reception at the Sons of Norway following. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Nordic Heritage Museum building fund (www.nordicmuseum.org), the Salvation Army, (www.salvationarmyusa.org/) or The Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.org/development/).