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
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