Here's a bio for Terry Pettus from Seattle's HistoryLink.org:
http://www.historylink.org/output.CFM?file_ID=2682

Says he was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1904, came to Seattle in the 1920's.

In 1983, when he was honored by the City of Seattle for his activities with Floating Homes and having survived long enough to have become a living legend or something, the mayor who made the presentation said "several of my predecessors are probably turning in their graves to know that we are giving Terry this recognition. There's now a Terry Pettus park overlooking Lake Union.