The Steamer Virginia V Foundation
Steve C. Holmes, President
Steve Holmes has been involved in virtually every capacity on board The Steamship Virginia V Foundation since signing on as a volunteer in 2002. A licensed captain and experienced diver that has worked in the industry since his early teens, Steve brings a rich background in travel, tourism, vessel operations and business development to the Foundation. Prior to coming to Seattle, Steve operated Hawaii’s largest dive excursion company, Steve’s Diving Adventures. With operations on Oahu and Maui, Steve’s Diving Adventures provided dive training, deep water adventures and land tours for over 90,000 tourists annually. Steve and his wife Cecilia now own and operate a local property improvement contracting company and along with their three daughters, make their home in Bothell, Wash. Steve can be reached at steve@virginiav.org.
Douglas E. Weeks, Vice President/Treasurer
Doug Weeks brings a rich background in maritime steam propulsion and industrial engineering to The Steamship Virginia V Foundation. An environmental manager with Seattle-based Holland-America Line, Doug has spent over 30 years as an engineer and later leading teams of professional auditors performing safety and environmental audits of significant industrial and manufacturing facilities. Since the early 1990s, Doug’s work with the Foundation has ranged from serving as a fireman and oiler on board the vessel to successfully writing over $1.5 million in grants at the onset of the Foundation’s $6.5 million capital campaign and restoration project. Doug’s work with the maritime and historic steam preservation communities includes The Center for Wooden Boats where he is actively involved in the operation and preservation of its turn-of-the-century steam launch Puffin. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. An accomplished photographer and outdoorsman, Doug makes his home in Duvall, Wash. Doug can be reached at doug@virginiav.org.
Tobey Wilkins, Immediate Past President
Tobey Wilkins has served in a variety of capacities with The Steamship Virginia V Foundation from volunteer deck crew to captain since the late 1990s. A licensed captain and commercial lender who helped guide the finances of the Foundation through its $6.5 million capital campaign and restoration, Wilkins has always had a passion for the operation and preservation of historic steam vessels. The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho native grew up in the culture of steam power with his parents sharing stories of the steam tugs they operated on Lake Coeur d’Alene and Lake Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The University of Washington graduate and avid sailor has contributed his time to a number of educational organizations. Tobey makes his home in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. Tobey can be reached at tobey@virginiav.org
Captain Mark L. Miller, Assistant Treasurer
Captain Mark L. Miller (USCG retired) brings a 27-year career with the United States Coast Guard culminating with the command of the 399-foot Polar Sea, one of the world’s most powerful, conventionally propelled icebreakers, to The Steamship Virginia V Foundation.
Captain Miller is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and a 1978 graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. He began his career as a Deck Watch Officer aboard USCGC Bramble, a buoy tender homeported in Port Huron, Michigan. He then served on the Thirteenth District Aids to Navigation staff in Seattle, then as Executive Officer of USCGC Iris, another buoy tender based in Astoria, Oregon. He returned to the Great Lakes in 1985, first as Senior Controller in the Ninth District Operations Center in Cleveland, then as Commanding Officer of USCGC Neah Bay, an icebreaking tug also located in Cleveland.
After earning his MBA from Kent State University in 1992, Captain Miller served as Comptroller at Coast Guard Supply Center Curtis Bay in Baltimore. He returned to sea as Executive Officer of USCGC Mellon and later as Commanding Officer of USCGC Storis in Kodiak, Alaska. He formerly served as staff of Commander, Ninth Coast Guard District, where he served as Chief of the Aids to Navigation Branch.
Having spent half of his sea-going years during sons’ lifetimes, Captain Miller is now a full-time dad where the three are active volunteers aboard Virginia V. He has previous experience with historic steam powered transportation, volunteering as a member of the locomotive crew on an excursion train operating in Ohio and is currently involved as a guide with the National Parks Service’s Trails and Rails program.
Captain Miller resides in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood with his wife Debbie and their two sons, Nathan 15 and Aaron 11.
mark@virginiav.org.
Diane Spaulding, Trustee – Diane can be reached at diane@virginiav.org - Bio coming soon
Erik Teevin, Trustee – Erik can be reached at erik@virginiav.org - Bio coming soon
Daniel Johnson, Trustee - Daniel can be reached at daniel@virginiav.org -Bio coming soon
