Keizertimes., May 21, 2021, Page 10, Image 10

PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 21, 2021
LIFE
The lion-like
HEART
behind Phil Bay Day
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
P
hil Bay was a little suspicious when
friends and family told him he had to
be at the Keizer Civic Center to celebrate
the retirement of one of his daughters, on a
Monday night no less.
“She lives in Monmouth, so I thought
that was a bit odd,” Bay said.
Instead of a party for a relative, Bay
himself was the one being honored. On
April 19, the Keizer City Council adopted
a proclamation honoring Bay for his long
history of service to the Keizer community,
it included his own day, Sept. 10.
His many contributions include volun-
teer fi refi ghter, city councilor, coach and
volunteering through the Keizer Chamber
of Commerce and Rotary Club.
“I always assumed that if I was going to
live here, I needed to be part of the com-
munity and make it a better place. It was
something I had to do,” Bay said.
If Bay only had a long list of volunteer
eff orts, it would not have set him apart
from many others in the city. It's the way
he moves through the world that defi nes
his legacy.
Not so long ago, as the newspaper
industry navigated yet another sea change,
the reporters at this paper were also the
ones delivering them to newsstands as a
way to cut costs. Personally, it felt like one
more knock down the towering ladder of
humility at the time. Most of the time, I
was fuming in my car between deliveries
(and, yes, it was a ridiculously petty con-
cern in retrospect). Keizer’s Ace Hardware,
where Phil worked at the time, was the one
stop that made a small part of my weekly
rounds bearable. Without fail, Phil would
be at the front of the store or make his way
there to greet me and ask what was news
that week. I was already two days into the
next week’s paper by that point and had
to scan the front page to remind myself
before giving him an answer. Phil made it
damn near impossible to feel diminished
in his eyes and that is only one example of
his genteel demeanor and respectful, calm-
ing presence.
Bay moved to Keizer in 1964 and took
a job as produce manager at what was
then a brand new Albertsons at the cor-
ner of Chemawa and River Road, where
Walgreens is today. He met his wife Joyce
on a blind date not long after his arrival
and the two married about a year later.
He also worked for Orcutt’s IGA and Fred
Meyer as an auto center manager before
opening a Farmers Insurance offi ce in 1975.
From the start, Bay was an active
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member of the community in addition to
providing for a growing, blended family. He
joined the Keizer Fire District as a volun-
teer. At the time, the fi re district was a tent
pole of the larger Keizer community. Bay
remembers fondly days working alongside
fellow fi refi ghters on community projects
and husking mountains of corn for a booth
at the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest.
The work was rewarding, but it came
with a lot of long nights. “There were times
when we’d have fi re call at 1 or 2 a.m. and
we couldn’t go home until the hoses we
used were put on a dryer and fresh ones
loaded on the truck,” Bay said.
Despite a growing number of com-
mitments that included being something
of a night watchman role for Cummings
Elementary School, coaching and Cub
Scouts leadership, Phil and Joyce made
By STEVE BREEN
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