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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2022
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
Honor
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Klopfenstein was one of four Oregon
firefighters who died in the line of duty
in 2021. He was memorialized Thursday
with his name added to the Oregon Fall-
en Fire Fighters Memorial at the Oregon
Department of Public Safety Standards
and Training in Salem.
When a firefighter like Klopfenstein
dies within 24 hours of responding to a
call, they are considered to have died in
the line of duty.
“He epitomized what it meant to be a
volunteer,” Silverton fire chief Bill Miles
said. “He’s running a busy farming busi-
ness operation, and yet in the midst of
that, he’s willing to drop that and go
help people. I think that was kind of in
his DNA anyway, helping people, help-
ing strangers. That’s what we’re about,
too, but I think he went above and be-
yond.”
Local farmer turns firefighter
Klopfenstein was a graduate of
Silverton High School and spent most of
his life in the area. He married Deloris
and they had five sons. He owned a farm
and had a business, KS Seeds.
In 1988, Silverton’s fire chief, Carl
Brown, came out to Klopfenstein’s farm
and asked him if he was interested in
becoming a volunteer firefighter for the
department. He had a young family and
had lots going on in his life. Yet he
agreed.
"He was so honored to be asked," De-
loris said in a letter to the department.
"We were young and just starting a fam-
ily, and so busy making ends meet. But
together, we knew he should join. And
he loved the department and the people
from the beginning."
He participated in Silverton’s first
training academy that year and found a
passion. For the next 33 years, he was a
presence in Silverton’s fire service.
Klopfenstein answered thousands of
calls for service, everything from struc-
ture fires to fires in farmer’s fields to car
accidents. And he didn’t get paid for it.
Klopfenstein thought up and execut-
ed multiple training exercises, including
live fire trainings to get other firefighters
prepared.
He once bought the fuselage of an
airplane so he could put together a drill
to teach firefighters what to do if they
encountered a plane crash, a real-world
situation that rarely happens.
Miles got used to Klopfenstein calling
him at unexpected hours and laying out
an idea for a new training exercise.
“He was always thinking about that
kind of stuff,” said Miles, who has been
Silverton’s chief for 14 years. “He or-
chestrated some live-fire trainings. He
was the instigator of a lot of that.”
Like a lot of small-town fire depart-
ments, Silverton relies heavily on volun-
teers. Miles said Silverton currently has
about 65 – including Klopfenstein’s
youngest son, Anthony – to augment its
staff of seven paid firefighters who work
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
That means a lot of the calls are taken
by volunteers like Klopfenstein.
The rise to Captain to
help his community
Klopfenstein loved a good gathering
and good food.
Miles tells of the time that Klopfen-
stein held a training burn of an old
house on his farm south of Silverton.
In a nearby barn, however, was a
feast.
For most of that day, firefighters ro-
tated from the training exercise to the
barn – where Klopfenstein was serving
steaks right off the grill and a table over-
flowing with desserts including pies –
and the house they were having the
practice burn on.
“He was just a great host,” Miles said.
Miles said if the department needed
Folies
Continued from Page 1A
Eastern” dance.
Another performer lists “poi spin-
ning” as their talent, which a Google
search tells you involves “swinging teth-
ered weights through a variety of rhyth-
mical and geometric patterns.”
Interestingly, the description also in-
cludes the possibility of singing and
dancing in accompaniment.
Also making an appearance are the
spritely singers and players that make
up the Silverton Ukulele Network. They
are a small group of uke devotees who
will rock out, Hawai’an-style, with Don
Ho standards like “Pearly Shells” and
“Tiny Bubbles.”
Watch out for lots of brightly colored
flowers and shirts — and Terry Kaye’s
little wooden ukulele earrings.
“We started putting the Follies to-
gether back in April because we didn’t
have a venue then,” Pressnall said, not-
ing that they later secured the Silverton
High School stage for the performances.
“I’m treating it as a play, which usu-
ally has Friday and Saturday perfor-
mances and a Sunday matinee,” Press-
nall said. Each daily production on June
17, 18 and 19 is broken into two 20-min-
ute sessions, with a 15-minute intermis-
a truck or piece of equipment, Klopfen-
stein would drop what he was doing and
bring it.
"I’ll be right there," Klopfenstein
would inevitably answer.
Miles said he saw people involved in
an accident who needed a ride, and
Klopfenstein drove them wherever they
needed to go in his truck. Klopfenstein
loaned people money without ever ex-
pecting the debt to be repaid.
The Victor Point station is about five
miles from Klopfenstein’s home. It
houses a fire engine and a water tender
– which is necessary as there are many
farms in the area. It’s a remote station
that has the potential to save critical
seconds when a call comes in in the
area.
Klopfenstein rose to the rank of Cap-
tain. He was in charge at the station at
Victor Point.
The department’s paid firefighters in
the department’s main station in south
Silverton arrive for calls in the south-
ernmost edge of the 106 square mile dis-
trict. But the volunteers based at the
Victor Point station who were under
Klopfenstein’s command saved critical
time for hundreds of people in distress
over the years.
The final call for help
Klopfenstein took thousands of calls
for service over his decades of service.
On that Friday afternoon in Septem-
ber, the call came in about 5:40 p.m. that
two cars had crashed on Cascade High-
way about two miles south of Silverton.
The impact between the two cars was
heavy. The three occupants had sus-
tained some injuries. Klopfenstein
tended to them, though they all declined
to be taken to a hospital in an ambu-
lance.
The cars sustained enough damage
that hazardous materials spilled onto
the roadway. One of the cars was block-
ing the highway.
“He helped push the vehicle off the
roadway,” Grambusch said.
In all, it took about 45 minutes until
the accident scene was cleaned up and
everyone left.
The next day, September 25, 2021, the
department received the call that some-
one had collapsed and needed medical
attention. The people who arrived to
help Klopfenstein were the ones he su-
pervised.
“His crew that he supervised had the
nightmare scenario and had to respond
on the call,” Miles said. “That was pretty
horrific, still leaves a pretty heavy hole
in our heart.”
Four of Klopfenstein’s five sons fol-
lowed in his footsteps and served as vol-
unteer firefighters.
In the weeks that followed his death,
a group of local farmers, people who
worked in construction and public safe-
ty workers held a procession through
Silverton.
This was the first time someone in
Silverton’s fire department died in the
line of duty. It hit everyone in the de-
partment hard.
“It was really important to Harry that
he wanted to help the community,”
Grambusch said. “He didn’t care about
the politics of it. He didn’t care about
who was in charge. It was all about the
community with him. Truly about the
community with him. He didn’t ever in-
sist on being in charge. He didn’t have a
problem with being in charge, so long as
it was for the betterment of the commu-
nity.”
Honoring four
firefighters who died
Families and friends of the fallen
gathered at the memorial in Salem on
Thursday to see their loved ones hon-
ored.
In Oregon, 174 firefighters have died
in the line of duty, dating back to Port-
land firefighter James Reed on Aug. 16,
1891.
Klopfenstein and the other three Ore-
sion.
And Follies-goers will want to sit up
in their seats when the Flapper Tapper
shows up.
Even though Senior Follies has a
minimum-age requirement of 50, the
Flapper Tapper — a tipoff to her age —
nearly has it doubled. Eileen Booth will
strut her stuff, dancing and singing on
stage at the youthful age of 95 (but, un-
derstandably, for only one of the three
days of the event).
The Senior Follies will be held at 7
p.m. on Friday and Saturday, June 17
and 18, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday,
June 19. Doors open 45 minutes ahead of
the show and tickets are $10 and $5 for
children under 10.
As a special treat, all dads get in for
half-price on Father’s Day.
“I didn’t know (the Follies) would be
three days,” Brockamp admitted, “and I
don’t think we realized what a big un-
dertaking it would be. But we are com-
mitted to more member-driven pro-
grams where the member also develops
and facilitates their idea.
“No one is in competition at the Fol-
lies — they’re just showing what they
do,” she said.
“This is for the community.”
Freelance writer/photographer Geoff
Parks is based in Salem. Have a Silver-
ton story idea? E-mail him at geoff-
parks@gmail.com.
Address: P.O. Box 13009, Salem, OR 97309
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Web site: www.SilvertonAppeal.com
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A bell is rung to honor fallen Oregon firefighters during the Fallen Firefighters
Memorial Ceremony on Thursday, June 9, 2022 in Salem, Ore. ABIGAIL DOLLINS /
STATESMAN JOURNAL
gon firefighters who died in 2021 were
added, along with 170 others, on the
state’s memorial wall. It was presented
to the public on Thursday. The other
fallen firefighters who were memorial-
ized were Frumencio Ruiz-Carapia,
Richard Ilg and Jerry Richardson.
The engine from the Victor Point Sta-
tion was there, as were many firefighters
from Silverton.
Firefighters from throughout the
state, as well as police officers and oth-
ers in public safety, sat through the wind
and rain to honor Klopfenstein and the
other fallen firefighters.
They heard speeches about the sacri-
fices made by the firefighters and paid
tribute to them. They heard the Portland
Fire Fighters Pipes and Drums play
Amazing Grace and the Oregon Fire Ser-
vice Honor Guard march in precision
and keep watch.
Ruiz-Carapia, from Medford, died in
the line of duty August 23, 2021 when he
was struck by a fallen tree while fighting
the Gales Fire in Lane County. He was
56.
Ilg, of Forest Grove, died of work-re-
lated brain cancer on Sept. 12, 2021. He
was 49.
Richardson, from Portland, died of
brain cancer Nov. 19, 2021. He was 56. He
also served as a volunteer at Selah Fire
Department in Montebello, California,
and in Cottage Grove.
Austin Smith of St. Paul, 31, who died
Feb. 3, 2022, will be honored in 2023.
“Austin’s name will be added to the
memorial wall next year,” said Brian
Henson, director of the Department of
Public Safety Standards and Training.
“We extend our thoughts and condo-
lences to his family and community.”
Henson said 53 firefighters have died
in the United States this year in the line
of duty.
“We are committed to reducing these
losses,” Henson said.
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for
the Statesman Journal. Contact him at
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
Annette Ripplinger (cq) and other members of the Silverton Ukelele Network
work out a tune ahead of their appearance at the Silverton Senior Follies. GEOFF
PARKS / SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL