Madison Finlay

Madison Finlay was a long-time resident of Redlands, Calif., but spent summers in Sandpoint since the early 1960s. He died of a heart attack on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007, at his home in Redlands. He was 94.

He was born Jan. 8, 1913, in Garden City, N.Y., where he learned to sail and developed a love for boats and the water. He also spent two summers working in the mines in the Wallace and Kellogg area as a young man. From these summers and from visiting his brother and sister-in-law on Blacktail Beach, near Talache Landing, he gained a great love for this area and, in 1961, he purchased what was then a goat ranch on Sunnyside Road, which became the family summer home. On this property he started his forty year project of building the "Sunnyside Queen". She is believed to be the only steam vessel that still plies the waters of the lake.

He was not only known for his steamboat and putting around town in his 1962 Ford Falcon Ranchero, but also for the fine game of golf he demonstrated at The Elks, Hidden Lakes, Hayden Lake, Spokane Country Club and his home course in Redlands where he was twice club president and scored four "holes in one." Many will remember his slow deliberate backswing and long straight drives.

He was educated at Exeter Academy and the Hill School in the Boston area, then at Menlo Junior College in California and finished at the University of Southern California. Friends can still hear him cheer, "Go Trojans."

His most satisfying personal achievement was the construction of the Sunnyside Queen, a steel-hulled, six and one-half ton boat powered by twin steam engines. Each time he took the "Queen" for a cruise, boaters on the lake would come alongside to see her up close and hold their ears when Captain Finlay gave them a blast of steam through the triad of brass whistles he had machined himself.

Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Marianne Finlay of Redlands and Sandpoint; two daughters, Joanne of Redlands, Calif., and Portland, Ore., and Maria (Larry) Larson of Sandpoint; a son, Madison Finlay of Worcester, Mass.; seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial celebration for family and friends will be held in Redlands with an Idaho celebration to take place later this summer, somewhere on the lake.

Memorial donations may be made to the Bonner General Hospital arts program.