Seldovia remembers
Seldovia remembers
Fritjof Hoen

Fritjof Hoen

March 09, 1884, Norderhov, Norway — 1975-01, Seldovia, Alaska


Hans Kristian Fridtjof Halversen, aka Hans Kristian Fridtjof Hoen was born March 9, 1884, in Norderhov, Norway. His parents were Halvor and Karen Hoen. He arrived in the US in 1907.

He married Mary Bean who was born in Alaska o Simeon and Sophia LUKIN Bean. They had four children before she died before 1930.

Mary and 3 children, Olav, Marie and Rolf returned from a trip to Norway in 1916 and Rolf, who was less than a year old died in New York soon after their return.

The family was living in Seattle, Washington in 1918 when he registered for the US military draft. He was a fisherman.

In 1920, Fred was boarding in Kenai, and fishing for a local cannery while the family was living in Seattle. By 1930 he was living alone, as a widower in Seldovia.

He was living in Seldovia when he registered for the WWII draft, and he was working for Fidalgo Packing Company.

Fred Elvsaas remembers “His house was big logs sunk into the sand, and then the upper half out of heavy timbers from the fish traps. And a roof. And then from his house, we had a covered walkway over to our house. And then our house was a large place. One room and a stove. But then, when we were over there, Mr. Hoen went out fishing on the fish traps. He worked for Fidalgo Island Packing Company. So he had to leave early in the spring. And then we would use his house for cooking and eating. And so – so it worked real good. And by the time that he came back in the fall, we were ready to move back to town.”

Fred married Katrina Malchoff in Seldovia on September 13, 1944. His marriage application states that he had been married once before and it ended in divorce. Fred and Katrina divorced in 1948 and he did not marry again.

He died while visiting his hometown in Norway in January 1975.

Hoen’s Lagoon is located on the west side of Seldovia Bay across from Watch Point. The entrance is narrow, with strong current, and navigable only by skiffs.

Hoen’s Spit is the piece of land that encompasses Hoen’s Lagoon.