Fabulich, Tacoma port commissioner, retires

Fabulich, Tacoma port commissioner, retires Long-time Port of Tacoma Commissioner Jack Fabulich has retired from the port's governing board after one of the longest tenures on a major U.S. port commission.

Fabulich

   When Fabulich struck the gavel closing the board's Dec. 20 meeting, it concluded a nearly 31-year run as a Port of Tacoma commissioner. He was first appointed to the normally elected position in February 1976, and won his first election for the seat the following year. Last February, his fellow commissioners elected him chairman in recognition of his years of service to the port authority and the local community.
   On Dec. 19, port officials renamed the Port Business Center — a five-story office building where the commission holds its meetings — to The Fabulich Center.
   A U.S. Navy veteran and an economics and business graduate of the University of Puget Sound, Fabulich served for 12 years as president of the Tacoma-based Parker Paint Manufacturing Co. before joining the port commission.
   During his tenure on the board, the Tacoma port has grown from a mainly bulk port that handled roughly 85,000 TEUs in 1977, to a major containerized operation that moved 2.1 million TEUs last year. Fabulich and his fellow commissioners over the years have lured such notable shipping lines as Sea-Land, Maersk Line, Hyundai Merchant Marine, “K” Line, Evergreen and Yang Ming to Tacoma facilities.
   One of the major accomplishments of his tenure was the $162 million settlement in the 1980s between the port and the local native American Puyallup Tribe. The deal freed up tribal claims on more than 18,000 acres of port-area property that opened the way for major port development.
   He was also instrumental in the development of the port's iconic observation tower in the 1990s that provides school children, teachers and other members of the public to safely view port activity.
   Fabulich was also a key player in developing a deal that will see ocean carrier NYK Lines shift from the nearby Seattle port to a $300 million, 168-acre Port of Tacoma container terminal set to start construction in 2010.
   In addition to his service as a commissioner, Fabulich co-founded the Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County.