Theodore Edmund Marie Grutter

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Wednesday, 23 July 2014 14:43

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Theodore Edmund Marie Grutter passed away on July 16, at Sitka Community Hospital, with his sons, granddaughter, and friends at his side.
He had experienced heart failure the day before, when he was at home showing a friend a family photo book dedicated to his beloved late wife, Clara. Recently he had fished his favorite fishery, the king salmon opening where he caught 32 kings in one haul. Despite saying he would rest up, he went right back out for coho salmon, declaring happily “there were so many big ones around, I just couldn’t resist!”
Theo was born in Basel, Switzerland, on July 31, 1933, the son of a Swiss guard in The Vatican, who later became a police chief.
Theo was a Christian Youth group leader, mountain climber, and played the violin as a young man and studied business management. But he decided the corporate lifestyle was not for him and moved to Paris. There he met Clara, a concert pianist, while writing a book in the cafes along the Seine. She too wanted a different life, so after they married in Belgium in 1963, they moved to New York City briefly. They then spent a year traveling around the U.S. and Mexico, ending up in Alaska where Theo worked in a logging camp out of Ketchikan.
By 1966, they settled into their yearly routine: Sitka for the summer and San Blas, Mexico, for the winters. In 1966, after going salmon trolling with a friend, Theo promptly bought a troller, named Michael B. It caught fire and sank in Icy Straits that same year, not only taking with it all the cash he had made but coming very close to killing him. He then bought the boat Onyx in Ketchikan, which he painted in brilliant colors.
For 48 years Theo and the Onyx trolled for salmon, and longlined for halibut and black cod.
He and Clara raised five children together. She and the kids would often spend part of the summer at Goddard Hot Springs while he fished. Theo and Clara hiked around much of Alaska, with several trips to the Brooks Range where they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere.
Every November they travelled to a different part of the world, often hiking many miles between remote villages. Their travels took them to exotic locales like Honduras, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Turkey, Jamaica and Papua New Guinea. Theo loved books and reading and spent many hours at Kettleson Memorial Library.
This past winter Theo spent the winter in San Blas, Mexico, just as he had done the previous 49 years. He had fished there for many years, first in a dugout canoe in the estuaries, then in a larger canoe and a panga, longlining many miles from the shore each day, using only the stars for navigation and with no communication systems. He survived a serious injury to his leg from a giant sting ray.
But lately Theo had spent more time at the fishermen’s palapa, trading stories with his fellow fishermen friends. He continued with his tree-planting, which he began over 30 years ago, providing shade, nature, and beauty, using his bicycle and buckets to water them. He also made benches from fallen trees to put under his trees; in parks, public buildings, and for friends. He even made a bench from a tree he had planted over 30 years ago!
Theo recently published his third book “Thinking Wild,” which he said was a product of all the times he spent out at sea alone, his love of nature, and how one can look at almost everything in a positive light.
Theo Grutter is survived by his children Lexa and her husband Mark of Brisbane Australia, Gila of Astoria, Ore., Pia and her husband Paul of Bellingham, Wash., Ivan and his partner Tasha, and Fabian and his wife Evening Star, all of Sitka; his grandchildren Tehsa, Tirsa, Rowan, and Anik; his brothers, Frank of Valle de Bravo, Mexico, Pius of Basel , Switzerland, Felix of Lausanne Switzerland, and his sister Cecile of Basel Switzerland, along with countless friends from Sitka and Mexico and around the world.

“Our family lost a wonderful father and grandfather and he will be deeply missed” said family. “Theo had a passion for life, was a great friend, a force of nature, and an original, and unique person who led an unconventional but thoroughly fulfilling life” said friends.
Theo was preceded in death by Clara, who passed away in 2011.
He will be laid to rest with his wife Clara at the Sitka Memorial Park on Aug. 24, 2014.
“Please join the family for a celebration of life at Halibut Point Road Recreational Area, South Pavilion by the Creek, at 3 p.m.” the family wrote.
The family may be contacted by mail in care of Grutter Family, 711 Etolin St, Sitka, Alaska 99835 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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