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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2019)
8A | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS Community Voices There was something about Harry By Larry Bacon Special to Siuslaw News Harry Albert Tammen (pictured above with his wife Anne) — just plain Harry to most folks — checked out of this life Oct. 15 —and what a life it was. If you didn’t know Harry, you missed out. He was a brash little guy with a round face, wry sense of humor, Jersey accent and a crooked grin who could talk about his adven- tures for hours and never become boring. Sometime before he died in Eu- gene, he told a friend his long-held goal was to live a life filled with fun and retire early. Well, he did both. During 88 years of living, he squeezed every drop of fun he could out of life and left his own indelible stamp on it. Not only did he seek fun and adventure, somehow the powers that be just seemed to send it his way. Good stuff he never would have expected just kept happening. Kind of like a guy with a knack for draw- ing to an inside straight and usually winning. Here’s a rundown on Harry’s life. A kid from Hoboken, N.J. , who spent some time as a projectionist in his home-town movie house, joins the Air Force in 1951, and the Air Force detailers decide that someone with that kind of motion picture ex- perience should be packing a movie camera rather than a rifle, so they send him to Hal Roach Studio in Hollywood for training to become part of an Air Force film crew. Ten months of training with an eight-pound Belle and Howe movie camera included helping shoot film for television shows, and it wasn’t long before Harry was rubbing shoulders with celebrities. The show he worked on most was “My Little Margie,” starring Gale Storm. He re- membered that he and Gale became “good buddies,” eating lunch togeth- er every day in the cafeteria. Fate smiled on Harry at the Hal Roach studio, because rather than going to Korea with the other train- ees, he was selected to be part of a six-man crew to make an Air Force documentary in England in con- junction with Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 coronation. He didn’t get to go inside Westminster Abbey, but he stood outside to film her leave in a gold horse-drawn coach. Harry ended up spending three years in Europe working with a crew making a variety of films used in recruiting, training and elsewhere. He saw places he never thought he would see and enjoyed experiences he would never have dreamed of — like a 15-minute private audience with English Prime Minister Win- ston Churchill. Harry and the BBC were filming an awards ceremony at which Churchill was to honor some American airmen who saved a family in a flood. The BBC crew forgot some sound gear, and went to go retrieve it. Rather than shoo Har- ry out, Churchill chatted with him while the two waited. “That was one of the highlights of my life,” Harry remembered. His only regret is that Churchill lit up a cigar, but never offered him one. The other highlight of his life abroad was meeting a curly-head- ed blonde English girl named Anne Frances David. She was 19, a knock- out, and had come with a group of girls to the base where Harry was stationed to receive instruction from American GIs on the game of softball. Harry asked her out for a date the following week, and then on a second date during which he asked her to marry him. Nine months later they tied the knot. Harry firmly believed he and Anne were a perfect match. And what’s more they made each other laugh — a whole lot. When Har- ry died, they had been married 65 years. Side by side along their road through life, they shared all the joy, sorrows and adventures that came their way. And the love they found so long ago in England always en- dured. When Harry got out of the Air Force in 1955, he brought his bride back to New Jersey, went to col- lege for a while, and soon decided to leave the cold and snow of New Brunswick for California. The cou- ple headed west in a new Chevy with $68 in travel money and ended up in Hollywood, where Harry par- layed his experience with film work into a job as a color technician with Technicolor Inc. Soon he was running his own department and rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous. Directors like Otto Preminger and Alfred Hitchcock would come to Harry’s shop to see “rushes,” the screening of processed film from their most recent shooting. Harry and Anne enjoyed going to local live theater in which many stars and stars-to-be would per- form. Never shy about talking his way backstage, Harry got to meet people like Julie Andrews, Marilyn Monroe and Jimmy Stewart. He even somehow ended up at a back- stage gathering at which Debbie Reynolds hand-fed him pieces of watermelon. The Tammens had a home in Chevy Chase Canyon, a good life, but no children after 11 years of marriage. So they adopted a son, whom they named David Sean. Lat- er, Harry would say having that little boy was “the most beautiful” part of his and Anne’s life together. But a tragic auto accident took David from them at age six in the sum- mer of 1970. After that, their life in California was not the same, so they pulled up stakes in 1972 and moved to Florence. There they lucked into a job as caretakers at Heceta House, the for- mer home for keepers at the historic Heceta Head Lighthouse north of Florence. When Harry and Anne ar- rived, the house was an off-campus retreat and instructional location for Lane Community College. The Tammens lived and worked at Heceta House for 17 years, en- joyed residing in one of the most beautiful spots in the United States and gained somewhat of a celeb- rity status themselves for multiple personal encounters with the ghost said to haunt the house. They even learned the ghost’s name, “Rue,” through a session with a ouija board. Harry once said Rue was like part of the family, and rather than scary it was “kind of exciting” living with her. While at Heceta House, Harry sometimes shot video news clips for a Portland TV station. He and Anne also worked part-time for the Siu- slaw News. And they built a house in Yachats. Eventually, wanderlust set in, so in 1989 they sold the house and bought a truck and travel trailer used for a four-year odyssey across America that ended in 1993 in Kis- simmee, Fla., where they bought a small home in a retirement com- munity. They enjoyed socializing with other retirees, going on cruis- es and basking in the sun. But after four hurricanes in one year they returned to Oregon in 2006 to settle in a Eugene apartment complex for seniors, where Harry spent his last years dealing with a variety of health problems. Always gregarious, Harry once said the friends he made along his way through life helped make life worth living. And one constant in his life, he said, was a desire “to al- ways do the right thing.” He was mostly happy about the way his life turned out. And one thing certain, he made sure that Harry Albert Tammen will be a hard man to for- get. No services are planned. Harry’s ashes are to be scattered in the Pacif- ic Ocean, just as his son’s were. Life with MS — Treatments for MS By Lloyd Little Special to Siuslaw News n 1986 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). When I asked, “What should I do now?” The doc- tor replied, “If the pain gets too great then come down to my office and I will give you a steroid shot. ” In 1986 the diagnosis of MS was difficult to deter- I mine. The symptoms of the disease varied from person to person. Magnetic Reso- nance Imaging (MRI) can detect soft tissue damage, but there were few hospitals in Oregon with an MRI ma- chine. A spinal tap, drawing fluid from the spinal cord to analyze, was another method. Either of these two methods could show an MS diagnosis. The treatment offered by my neurologist was un- acceptable to me. In 1986 there were few options for the treatment of MS. Grad- ually the medical research, through generous dona- tions, discovered potential MS treatments. In the early 1990s, the drug Betaseron was given the green light by the FDA. There was a list of the side effects clearly stated and the ever familiar words “This drug MAY or MAY NOT reduce your exacerba- tions. ” This drug was said to slow down or reduce the im- pact of MS exacerbations for Relapsing Remitting Mul- tiple Sclerosis (RRMS), my MS diagnosis. After an exacerbation leaving me with less mobili- ty and greater pain, my wife and I decided to try Beta- seron. The every-other-day injections caused pain in my body and pocketbook. This treatment was meant to be my forever treatment in my battle against the progres- sion of my MS. The flu-like side effects came as warned. For two years, I or my wife injected this drug into my body. Could I truthfully say the treatment was working? No I could not. It was at that time I decid- ed the side effects and ex- pense were too much and I would carry on without MS drug treatments. Through the years, MS research has discovered a number of additional drugs available for all stages of MS. These drugs are extreme- ly expensive and, without monetary assistance from multiple sources, people with MS would not be able to afford these treatments. Each month our MS sup- port group meets and we talk about the growing num- ber of MS treatments on the market, some of which are talked about in Momentum Magazine, a publication of National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Each person in our group has symptoms needing re- lief. If there is a drug helpful for them, they may ask their neurologist about its use. One of the newest poten- tial breakthrough treatments for MS is the CBD of mari- juana. This oil is said to be effective in reducing several symptoms of MS with no side effects. However, not enough re- search is yet available for me to feel safe in trying this treatment. My current treat- ment is gabapentin for pain. My family and friends sup- port me and help me when needed. The adage “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” keeps me from altering my approach to MS. Each treatment available today also has a list of poten- tial side effects from its use. Each individual MS warrior will need to make their de- cision based on their own reasons. MS research con- tinues and a breakthrough treatment or cure may just be around the corner. Moral of the Story — Tree Hugger some leaning trees from our wooded lot. Watching from the window reminded me of another experience with tree trimmers. Lining the streets in Hun- tington Beach grew majestic palms, sprouting huge green fronds, each 50 to 60 years old with trunks three feet in By Karen D. Nichols diameter. The one in front of Special to Siuslaw News our house was gorgeous. Each or safety, we a hired morning I awoke admiring its workman to chop down graceful fronds through our F dormer window. The newspaper mentioned several of the trees were dis- eased and for safety they were being removed. The disease would eventually take all the palms. Sadly, I witnessed large removal equipment on various streets assisting the demise of the iconic trees. When I noticed that our palm was turning brown and losing fronds, I felt helpless. Was there no way to save it? One day, the tree-murders stopped in front of our house. “No! Please don’t!” I begged the workmen. “Okay. It’s too late to start. We’ll come next month,” they said. With a month’s reprieve, I had to do something. I hugged the tree. “Please don’t die.” Maybe it needed water, af- ter which, I hugged it again. “I love you. We’ve only got a Shorewood Senior Living month. You need to get well, now!” Each day I talked to my tree. I touched it. I patted it. I hugged it and I prayed. Ralph said, “Are you nuts?” A week later, the dead fronds dropped to the ground. I touched it. I talked to it. I patted it. I hugged it and I prayed. Each day I spent time with my tree. Each day, as if by magic, new fronds appeared. Somehow the workmen didn’t chop it down the next month. A reprieve! I contin- ued my daily treatments. A few weeks later my tree exud- ed wellness and beauty. We lived there two more years with our extraordinary tree. Then we moved. Driving by several months later, the tree was gone. Moral: Never underesti- mate the power of a hug and a kind word. FEATURED HOME OF THE WEEK IS TRULY A UNIQUE INDEPENDENT LIVING COMMUNITY Supporting Florence since 1987. 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