Page 7 - Newsletter Spring 2023

Remembering Charlie Pancerzewski and Tom Nack

The South Whidbey Historical Soci- the Seattle office of what is now De- “I met Tom 20 years ago at our mu-
ety marks the passing of two longtime loitte. seum in Langley. I told him that there
Board members and volunteers: Char- Of recent interest to Charlie was re- was a painting of Joseph Whidbey in
lie Pancerzewski in December and search into possibly restoring the meat the office of
Tom Nack in March. scale which had been a part of his Civil Engineer-
wife’s aunt (May Bainter Frear) and ing in London
Charlie Pancerzewski uncle’s (Bob Frear’s) meat market on England. Tom,
Charlie got involved with the SW main street in Langley. being a Civil
Historical Society because of his wife’s A brick has been commissioned for Engineer, be-
family roots in Langley. Gayle is a de- the Museum’s Memorial area in front came intrigued
scendant of early of the Langley Museum. and invited me
settler families: to a Board meet-
the Cattrons and Tom Nack ing of the His-
the Bainters. ‘Colonel Tom’ as he was sometimes torical Society.
Both she and greeted (for he was a retired U.S. Army Before I knew it, I was on the Board
Charlie shared Corps of Engineers Colonel) helped to of the Historical Society and arrange-
a keen interest renovate the SW Historical Museum ments were made to obtain a copy of
in the history of and served as Board President for sev- Whidbey’s painting which is displayed
South Whidbey. eral years beginning in 2002. at our museum...
Even though it meant taking the fer- He continued to attend monthly “Tom played a key role in obtaining
ry from his home in Mukilteo, Charlie Board meetings and serve as a docent the building that houses our museum in
rarely missed a Board meeting, attend- until shortly before he and his wife, Langley.
ing one as recently as the month before Miriam, moved to Bellevue last No- “The building, which is over 100
he passed,” SWHS Board President. vember. He also oversaw the Society’s years old, was originally built as a
Bill Haroldson said. Endowment for many years. bunkhouse for loggers and brush cut-
“He put a lot of time and effort into The following is a eulogy that SWHS ters. Before it could be a museum it
the Historical Society,” he said. Board President Bill Haroldson read at had to be totally renovated.
The Pancerzewskis regularly funded Tom’s memorial service. “This involved raising the structure,
maintenance projects involving the log “Tom Nack took the phrase “Go installing a concrete foundation, add-
cabins at the Fairgrounds as well as make a difference” seriously. He be- ing an office, a new roof, and windows.
underwriting the digitization of Island came part of many non-profit organiza- Finally, the interior had to give visitors
County Fair scrapbooks. tions here on the island including Good the feeling that they had stepped back
With his experience as a CPA and an Cheer, Rotary and the South Whidbey in time to be part of life on Whidbey as
auditor, Charlie deftly asked the hard Historical Society. He would not only it was more than a century ago. Colo-
questions. It was part of his make-up. get totally involved but his greatest gift nel Tom, using his best organizational
After he earned an accounting degree was to bring others into these organiza- skills, brought the right people together
from the University of WA in 1961, he tions. He made friends easily with his to complete the project. That also met
was hired by Haskins & Sells, having soft Missouri–Tennessee drawl. Get- raising the funds to pay for the project.
scored the highest on his accounting ting other people “to go make a differ- When the building opened as a muse-
exam than anyone in the state had ever ence” was one of his best attributes. um, it was fully paid for, leaving the
achieved. His new boss challenged Historical Society without debt.
him to take the test again, not believing “There was more to be done. That
that anyone could score that well, and was to establish an endowment fund
he did, scoring even higher the second giving the Society a saving account.
time around! Up until last year, Tom oversaw the en-
With hours earned while bookkeep- dowment fund.
ing since high school and passing the “Tom Nack was a person who went
exam, Charlie became the youngest out and made a difference for the bene-
person in the state to qualify for his fit of others. He should be remembered
CPA license. for getting others to do the same. Tom
He enjoyed a long career as an audi- will be missed.”
tor, most of which was as a partner in
7