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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 22, 2019)
2A | WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS On The Record PETERSON—Richard Lee Peterson passed away Fri- day May 3, 2019, at 11:20 p.m., with his family be- side him. Known to many as “Pete” Richard Pe t e r s o n , Peterson he spent the later years of his life living in Greentrees Village in the quaint coastal town of Flor- ence, with his wife, Shirley Ann Peterson, who passed away on Feb. 26, 2016. They were married 60 years, loved their pet cats and local wild birds at their beautiful property on the river. Pete was born in Angels Camp California, Feb. 5, 1931, to Walter Lee and Virginia Rose Peterson, and first lived in the small gold-mining town of Melones, Calif. (now under Melones Lake). After the mines closed, the family moved to El Cerrito, Calif., where Pete had a paper route as a boy and bought his first motor bike — a Cushman Scooter. In the early 1940s, the fam- ily moved to Orland, Calif., where his father bought him an Indian Motorcycle at the age of 15 in 1946. He started practicing right away and be- gan racing on dirt tracks in Chico, Redding, Corning, Red Bluff, Marysville, Lodi, Fresno, Santa Rosa and Sacramento. By 1949, he was winning so much he decided to become professional and was spon- sored by his lifetime buddy, Bill Brownell, who owned the Chico Honda Triumph Deal- ership (back then Indian/ Cushman) and the Cycleland Speedway Race Track.) Then, Pete enlisted in the U.S. Army and trained as a paratrooper at Fort Bragg, N.C., for the Korean War, and was honorably discharged in January 1954 as a sergeant in the 2nd Batalion, 504th Air- borne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. Following his discharge, Pete met Shirley Mais who became his wife. They moved to Chico, Calif., where Pete started a Shell Gas Station and started raising four young children: Danny, Dave, Kath- leen and Jeanine. After a while, the fami- ly moved to Orland, Calif., where Pete worked at Barce- lous Brothers Auto Parts as a shop machinist and quickly became well known for pro- viding the best machine work in Northern California for the next 25 years. In 1978, he bought the busi- ness, which is now known as Orland NAPA Auto Parts, and ran it for 10 years. During that time, he bought a Cessna air- plane and enjoyed exploring numerous small towns and airports together with Shirley. He sold the business to his eldest son, Dan, and moved with Shirely to San Fransisco to enjoy retirement after many years of hard work — but an earthquake in 1998 encour- aged them it was time to leave the city! They relocated to Sun River, Ore., to enjoy a moutain life- style. However, once they vis- ited Florence, Ore., they fell in love with the coastal town and moved there permanantly. Pete and Shirley visited fre- quenly with many friends in the historic downtown area, spending hours at their favor- ite coffee shop. They loved the friendly, relaxing pace in Ore- gon so much they never want- ed to leave. While in Florence, Pete’s hobbies included building a wonderful collection of over 60 antique motorcycles with Bill Brownell and participat- ing in antique motocycle club events throughout the western states, parading his bikes on back roads and in fun little towns for people to enjoy. Pete also loved display- ing different bikes each year during the annual Florence Rhododendron Festival for locals to enjoy and talk about. Pete continued to fly his air- plane a lot and even bought a boat to try his hand at crab fishing. Pete’s passion in life really was his wife, family, friends, animals and — of course — motorcycles. In fact, his mo- torcycle buddies will all tell you Pete was a great guy, and he was damn fast! ELLIS—Charles (Chuck, Bud) Ellis, 95, of Florence, died May 15, 2019. Chuck was a W W I I veteran who was inducted into the U.S. Army Charles Ellis on June 7, 1943, at Camp Dodge, Iowa, near his home town of Des Moines, Iowa. After three months of basic police train- ing at Fort Custer in Michi- gan, he served one year as an MP (Military Police) at Camp Stoneman and Camp Mc- Quaide, in California. He was then sent to Camps Bowie, Swift & Bliss in Texas to train as a Combat Engineer with the Third Army to be command- ed by Gen. George S. Patton. Chuck became a Demoli- tion Specialist, which involved finding and disabling booby traps, land mines, setting and detonating explosives and oth- er dangers. He helped assem- ble Baily Bridges over rivers, working in the open, often dodging bullets from German air attacks. The Bailey Bridge was a key element, allowing troops OBITUARIES to advance quickly through France and Germany, where he also assisted in the libera- tion of concentration camps. His two Bronze Stars were awarded for the Rhineland and Central Europe Cam- paigns. Like the Combat Infantry Badge, the Bronze Star belonged to those who slogged it out on the front lines. The Combat Engineers were the first to go into ene- my territory and were the last out. We all owe them a great deal of gratitude, for if the war had turned out different- ly, many of us would not have been born and others would have had a vastly different and possibly much shorter life. Chuck was honorably dis- charged Feb. 7, 1946, and joined his mom and two sis- ters who had moved to South- ern California. He married Ann Krohn in 1949 (She died in 2008). He drove an ice cream truck to support his growing family of four adopted sons. He went to college at night on the rather new GI Bill and earned a de- gree in business administra- tion from USC, and started work at Hoffman Electronics. Their claim to fame was the development of the solar cells that powered the first solar-powered satellite, the Vanguard 1, launched in 1958. Chuck worked for them as a supervisor and then for Ford Aerospace, in the Aeronutron- ic division, based in Newport Beach, Calif. When he retired, they moved to Florence. He and Ann were active in the com- munity, and Chuck especial- ly enjoyed singing with the Presbyterian Church Choir and participating in the Ki- wanis Club. He is survived by his four sons, a daughter-in-law, two grandsons and their wives. His nephews, Eric, and Blair Krohn and family, who live here in Oregon, were a great source of joy to him with their regular ball game visits, boating and water ski- ing, when Chuck could watch from his deck. He is also survived by his second wife since 2011, Lau- ri, along with stepdaughter Angie Terrell, four stepsons and their families. He also has numerous other relatives scattered about. Thanks to our doctors; Dr. Randy Boespflug for help with driving issues, Dr. Weinstein for help with cranky knees, and Dr. Kerner for coming to the house at the end. Also, much gratitude goes to our superhero, Dr. Glen Keiper in Eugene, who did back surger- ies for both Angie and Mom, making it possible to care for Chuck at home during his slow decline due to dementia, a debilitating stroke in 2014, and congestive heart failure. And thanks to Mr. Burns and his daughter, for taking Chuck on his last ride. Chuck did not want a fu- neral service but did want us to express his gratitude to all his friends and family that made his life a long and happy one — so, thanks to you all. Burns’s Riverside Chapel Florence Funeral Home. VIRDEN—Phyllis Jean Virden, 85, formerly of Flor- ence, passed away in Spring- field, Ore., on Friday May 10, 2019. Phyllis was born July 27, 1933, in Seldovia, Alaska to Isabelle and George Baltazor. Prior to moving to Spring- field in 2018, she had lived in Idaho and Oregon. She married James Virden in July 1984 in Florence, living here more than 30 years, eventual- ly retiring from the Florence Safeway. She enjoyed walks on the beach, collecting ag- ates, watching humming- birds, crocheting and attend- ing Eugene Emeralds baseball games with her husband. Phyllis loved her many cats and dogs over the years. We e k l y outings included swimming and coffee with her friends. Phyllis was pre- Phyliss ceded in Virden death by her husband, Jim Virden; son Myke Johnson; and grandson Jeremy Wilson. She is survived by a son, Daniel Johnson, and wife Becky; and grandson, Jim Wilson. At her request, there will be a private inurnment next to her husband Jim at Pacific Sunset Cemetery in Florence. Burns’s Riverside Chapel Florence Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Dunes Memorial Chapel serving Florence and the surrounding area “ Our Family, Serving Your Family” Burial & Cremation Service • Onsite Crematory Columnbarium Spaces • Pre-need Planning Serving Lane, Douglas and Coos County Dunes Memorial Chapel 2300 Frontage Road, Reedsport, Oregon 97467 • 541-271-2822 Fun STARTS HERE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND GRAND PRIZE DRAWING SUNDAY, MAY 26 at 9PM RECEIVE ONE ENTRY FOR EVERY 50 SAME-DAY POINTS EARNED RE Starting Friday, May 24 at Noon through Sunday, May 26 at 8 8:30pm. Star CHOOSE A DESIGNER HANDBAG One Bag Contains $500 CASH! TUESDAYS • 7PM-9PM • DRAWINGS RAWINGS EVERY 30 MINUTES Receive one entry for every 50 same-day -day points earned betwn nn and 8:59pm. LAST 2 WEEKS! Live Music STARTS HERE 7PM - 11PM BRET LUCICH & PAUL BIONDI EXPERIENCE MAY 24, 25 & 26 FLORENCE 8 7 7 - 3 7 4 - 8 3 7 7 | T H R E E R I V E R SC A S I N O . CO M
