A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2019
Mitchell:
About 890 in
Oregon are
awaiting organ
transplants
DANCE
IN THE
FOREST
IN BRIEF
Warrenton man dies in collision
with dump truck west of Naselle
NASELLE, Wash. — A Warrenton man died Friday
at the Johnson’s Landing intersection 5 miles west of
Naselle when he turned onto the highway in his 2000
Nissan pickup and was struck by a 1999 Kenworth
dump truck, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Just E. Mills, 22, was southbound on U.S. Highway
101 and stopped at the intersection where State Route
4 ends and Highway 101 continues toward the Long
Beach Peninsula or Astoria.
He pulled out to make a left turn onto State Route
4 and was struck by the dump truck driven by Arlan J.
Pellervo, 67, of Naselle, who had the right of way.
Although Mills was wearing his seatbelt, he died
at the scene. Pellervo wasn’t injured. The Nissan was
totaled and the dump truck had to be towed. The highway
was closed for a lengthy period for a crash investigation.
— Chinook Observer
Continued from Page A2
Pedestrian struck by vehicle Friday
on Marine Drive in Astoria
A man was struck by a vehicle Friday night between
the 700 and 800 block of Marine Drive in Astoria.
The man was allegedly intoxicated and walked into
the middle of the street when the driver of the vehicle
struck him. The driver reportedly did not see him.
The pedestrian was conscious and was taken to
Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria. He was later
fl own to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital
for treatment a head injury.
Homeless man reportedly assaulted
on Astoria Riverwalk Saturday
A homeless man was reportedly assaulted early Satur-
day morning on the Astoria Riverwalk behind Safeway.
The man reported he was sleeping on a bench behind
the Astoria Riverfront Trolley stop when a man grabbed
him from behind and started punching him in the face.
The man allegedly proceeded to throw and smash the
victim’s belongings before leaving through the Safeway
parking lot. The victim did not know who the man was
and was not able to give police a description of him.
The suspect was not located by police. People
with information are asked to call the Astoria Police
Department.
— The Astorian
Jury awards $17 million to 3 plaintiffs
in deadly Amtrak derailment
TACOMA, Wash. — A federal jury has awarded
three people who sued over a deadly Amtrak derailment
in Washington state nearly $17 million for their pain and
suffering.
An eight-person jury in U.S. District Court in Tacoma
decided Friday to award $7.75 million to Dale Skylling-
stad, $7 million to Blaine Wilmotte and $2 million to his
wife, Madison Wilmotte.
— Associated Press
DEATHS
Sept. 14, 2019
MOBERG, Beverly
Almeda, 93, of Astoria,
died in Portland. Cald-
well’s Luce-Layton Mor-
tuary of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
Sept. 13, 2019
BUTLER, Robert, 80,
of Warrenton, died in War-
renton. Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
HERTIG,
Elnora
Fay, 87, of Seaside, died
in Seaside. Caldwell’s
Funeral & Cremation
Arrangement Center of
Seaside is in charge of the
arrangements.
MILLER-LEWIS, Ann
Marie, 60, of Wheeler, died
in Wheeler. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary is in charge
of the arrangements.
WELCH, Timothy, 61,
of Seaside, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Sept. 12, 2019
MOORE, Dolores, 89,
of Seaside, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
DUII
• Timothy McCurry, 49, of Portland, was arrested
Friday in Seaside for driving under the infl uence of
intoxicants.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Port of Astoria Commis-
sion, 4 p.m., Port offi ces, 10
Pier 1 Suite 209.
Astoria Historic Land-
marks Commission,
5:15 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District Board
of Directors, 5:15 p.m.,
Bob Chisholm Community
Center, 1225 Avenue A,
Seaside.
Seaside School District
Board of Directors, 7 p.m.,
1801 S. Franklin.
Shoreline Sanitary Dis-
trict Board, 7 p.m., Gear-
hart Hertig Station, 33496
West Lake Lane, Warrenton.
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Tree Board, 4 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Established July 1, 1873
Circulation phone number:
503-325-3211
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Lucy Kleiner/The Astorian
Hampton Lumber hosted a BodyVox dance performance in the heart of a working Douglas fi r
and hemlock forest on Saturday evening. Over 60 people were shuttled up steep gravel roads
to the show, the fi rst of its kind for both Hampton and BodyVox. BodyVox artistic director
Jamey Hampton was welcomed back to the forest by his brother, David Hampton. ‘It’s kind
of amazing for us to come up here and do something like this,’ David Hampton said of his
brother’s performance. ‘It brings tears to my eyes.’
Friends remember former
Astoria police chief Deu Pree
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Former Astoria Police
Chief Rob Deu Pree lost his
10-year battle with cancer last
week.
Deu Pree, 75, passed
away at his home in Nevada,
according to Astoria Police
Chief Geoff Spalding. He is
survived by his wife of 40
years, LaDean .
“Many of you in the com-
munity knew him well and
know that he was a great man
and strong leader in the com-
munity,” Spalding wrote in
a post on the Astoria Police
Department’s
Facebook
page. “Chief Deu Pree was a
well-respected professional in
the law enforcement commu-
nity as well and contributed
greatly to our profession.”
Deu Pree was police chief
from 1993 until he retired in
2007.
Prior to moving to Asto-
ria, he spent nine years as
police chief in Springfi eld
and worked as second in
command to the police chief
in Arvada, Colorado. He was
also a U.S. Army captain
during the Vietnam War.
While working, Deu Pree
earned his master’s degree
in criminal justice and grad-
uated from the FBI academy.
“Rob was a dedicated pro-
fessional,” said Jeff Rusiecki,
the e mergency c ommunica-
tions m anager for Astoria 911
Dispatch .
“Most chiefs don’t have
the tenures that Rob had.
B ut he expected people to do
their job and do it to the best
of their ability and if you did
you got along well with Rob.”
Rusiecki said Deu Pree
brought a great deal of expe-
rience to Astoria and was a
mentor who wasn’t afraid to
stand up for his people.
“And
(he)
probably
advanced the police depart-
Renown Health
Former Astoria Police Chief Rob Deu Pree documented his
battle with cancer for Renown Health in Nevada.
ment and police sciences in
Astoria far greater than any-
one has in 50 years,” he said.
Deu Pree lost a campaign
for Clatsop County sher-
iff to Tom Bergin in 2004 .
They debated issues pertain-
ing to a new jail and drug
enforcement.
When Deu Pree retired
in 2007, he said one of the
accomplishments he was
proudest of was establishing
community policing .
He also served as a com-
munity policing consultant
for the U.S. Department of
Justice and the Institute for
Law and Justice and taught
classes at the Western Com-
munity Policing Institute,
according to his LinkedI n
page.
Another accomplishment
he was proud of was using
technology to increase effi -
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ciency, which enabled the
police department to operate
with the same number of offi -
cers he started with when he
became chief in 1993.
“For Chief Deu Pree, being
an offi cer was more than a
job,” said Willis Van Dusen, a
former Astoria mayor. “It was
his life’s calling and he took
it very seriously and he did a
great job. Offi cers are some-
times referred to as peace offi -
cers, well that’s what he did,
he kept the peace and he will
be greatly missed. He was a
great father, husband and just
a great man.”
His hobbies included
building model boats, leather
craft and woodworking. He
also enjoyed fi shing, music
and watching and performing
in community theater .
“Chief Deu Pree was
a great man and he was
respected by everyone — the
offi cers, citizens and even
those who ran afoul of the law
respected Chief Deu Pree,”
Van Dusen said.
“He’s going to be missed. ”
law that helps provide job
security for organ donors
by making it a procedure
protected by the state’s
Family Medical Leave Act.
It was during the pro-
cess that Mitchell told
Donate Life Northwest she
was interested in donating
an organ .
“Most people don’t
have the ability to take
four to six weeks off to do
something like this,” she
said. “If we can eliminate
those barriers to where this
can actually be a reality
for folks, my hope is more
people take advantage of
that opportunity.”
Although Mitchell will
not personally benefi t from
the law, which takes effect
in January, it’s something
she wants to make avail-
able for others . H er dona-
tion is part of a paired
exchange program, which
allows people to swap kid-
neys among , in her case,
three pairs of people who
want to donate but are
incompatible with the per-
son they want to help.
“So there’s three peo-
ple who are going to get an
organ out of this and to me
that’s incredibly exciting
to know it’s not just one
organ, it’s not just mine, it’s
three different people are
going to benefi t,” she said.
Although she doesn’t
know any of the recipients,
she is excited for them and
their families, and hopes
she gets the opportunity
to meet them after the
surgeries.
According to the United
Network for Organ Shar-
ing, about 113,000 people
are waiting for organ trans-
plants, including about 890
in Oregon .
“Statistically, for every
year a person is on dialysis,
they lose about fi ve years
off their life expectancy. It
breaks my heart to think
about the child who may
lose their parent early, or
the person that loses their
spouse to kidney disease,”
Mitchell wrote in a Face-
book post announcing her
decision .
“If just 1 in every 10,000
people made the choice to
donate altruistically — we
could help to erase the list
of people waiting for an
organ in the United States.”
As far as the medical
concerns associated with
organ donation , Mitch-
ell, 35, said there is a lot
of work done on the front
end to make sure the donor
is a good candidate for the
surgery.
“They are very open
with you in saying that
there is a potential for com-
plications, as there always
is with any major surgery,”
she said.
“There is the poten-
tial that down the road if
the other kidney goes then
you’re in trouble there. B ut
they actually do a lot of
work beforehand, and a lot
of testing to make sure that
the person who is donat-
ing is very healthy and the
least likely type of per-
son to develop kidney dis-
ease themselves down the
road.”
Mitchell
encourages
people to look into whether
they are good candidates
for organ donation. Above
all, she said being able to
give that gift to somebody
and their family is “tre-
mendously impactful.”
“My hope is that
through
this
experi-
ence and through pub-
licly talking about it and
undergoing it myself that
it’s something that people
themselves will seriously
consider in terms of decid-
ing, yeah, this is something
I would be willing to do, ”
she said.
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