Glenn Malachi Gollen, 39 | Bonner County Daily Bee

With all the sadness a family can face, we announce the passing of our beloved brother, husband, father and son, Glenn Malachi Gollen. On October 2, 2024, Glenn lost his life in a diving accident while fishing commercially in the waters off Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska.

Although it would take many novels to chronicle his experiences and achievements, I think my brother would appreciate a shorter version. The second of three boys born to Liz and Archie Gollen at Bonner General Hospital on December 17, 1984, Glenn grew up and attended school in Sagle, Idaho. Early years spent wandering the family property and the Grouse and Gold Mountains sparked a love of nature and the outdoors that would captivate Glenn for the rest of his life.

A Sandpoint High School graduate, Bulldog football player and after-school dirt track chaser, Glenn was above average in everything he did. While in high school and while attending college, Glenn apprenticed with Don Goffinet, a Bottle Bay builder and Ketchikan native. By the time Glenn completed his bachelor’s degree in project management from Eastern Washington University, he had already spent several summers working with Don on construction projects and meeting with the fishing industry of Ketchikan, Alaska. Shortly thereafter and for the next 15 years he would be a resident. While building came naturally to Glenn, the bays, islands and fjords of Southeast Alaska were calling louder and covering the seine boats, gillnets and dive boats became his way of life. He had bright eyes and firm handshakes for everyone he met, and opportunity was everywhere for a man like Glenn.

Always aiming for the next great adventure, my brother worked his way through the docks and harbors to earn a living, eventually being hired on The Dive Master, a leading dive-specific vessel that harvested sea cucumbers and geoducks from the ocean floor. For eight years, Glenn kept this ship on deck, maintaining the rigging and, most importantly, monitoring the diver’s communications and oxygen levels underwater. To show how those close to him felt about him, Glenn was given a $60,000 permit in 2018 by one of the divers he had kept safe all those years. The next season, with license in hand and dive school completed, Glenn had accomplished something he’d worked all his life for: he was a professional diver on one of the best boats, in one of the most lucrative fisheries, in the world.

Since his spearfishing season was primarily in the winter months, Glenn returned to Idaho in the summer and used his time to single-handedly build a beautiful custom home on the family property. In the meantime, I guess, thinking ahead to the next big adventure.

I can say with certainty that the happiest years of my brother’s life began four years ago when he met his wonderful wife-to-be Cin Bashaw. In 2024, they introduced the world to their beautiful daughter, Hollis Willow, and got married later that summer. I watched Glenn transition easily and eagerly into fatherhood. Happily trading halibut runs for diaper runs and backcountry hunts for barbecues in Garfield Bay.

On the other side of our table, Glenn’s adventure stories took us from the top of the mountains to the bottom of the sea. Glenn was a master hunter in the woods and a professional fisherman in the ocean. Glenn’s most important trophy was always the one he put on the table. His catch fed my family more times than can be counted and his warm smile always made everyone around him feel loved. Family was always Glenn’s most cherished possession and the light in his eyes proved true that a man’s greatest achievements are not measured by the mountains he climbs or the money he earns, but by the love of family who loves him.

The heart and humor of our family, you are the best man we have ever known. May our eternal love for you shine in the stars and know that your stories and example will be passed down for generations. We love you as brothers Cole and Dylan and parents Liz and Archie, wife Cin and daughter Hollis, sister-in-law Joanna and niece Maeve and as family members and friends everywhere.

A celebration of Glenn’s life will take place on November 24, 2024 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Western Pleasure Guest Ranch, 1413 Upper Gold Creek Road.