T he C olumbia P ress
January 5, 2018
County’s last known Pearl Harbor survivor dies
Spurgeon Keeth, Clatsop
County’s last known Pearl
Harbor attack survivor, died
Dec. 28 at his home in Ham-
mond. He was 92.
A military honor celebra-
tion will be held Saturday,
Jan. 6, at Camp Rilea.
Keeth’s body was returned
to Yakima, Wash., where me-
morial services are planned.
Keeth, who suffered from
dementia, moved to Ham-
mond to be cared for by his
daughter, Donna Barnett,
and her husband.
He was given a place of
honor by the VFW in the
2016 and 2017 Fourth of July
parades and participated in
various Memorial Day cere-
monies.
Keeth was just 16 when he
joined the military and was
sent to Pearl Harbor. Within
Spurgeon
Keeth cele-
brates Father’s
Day with
his daugh-
ter, Donna
Barnett, and
great-grand-
daughter,
Tayler Ford.
as shop foreman for the fed-
eral Wapato Irrigation Proj-
ect in Washington state. He
also worked as a mechanic,
auto body repairman, truck
driver and school bus driver.
Keeth is survived by his
wife of 70 years, Ruby, of
Yakima. Together they had
four children and many
more grandchildren.
County seeks folks who are good with numbers
Clatsop County has open-
ings on various county bud-
get committees and seeks ap-
plicants.
The citizen committees re-
view the proposed budgets
and make recommendations
to the Board of Commission-
ers.
The committees general-
ly meet in May to review the
proposed budgets.
• Clatsop County Budget
Committee: One full term,
ending Feb. 28, 2022, rep-
resenting District 1; and two
unexpired terms, ending Feb.
28, 2020, for Districts 2 and
3 are open.
District 1 covers Warrenton
and Hammond and a portion
of west Astoria.
District 2 covers Gearhart
and Clatsop Plains.
District 3 covers portions
of Astoria as well as Miles
Crossing, Jeffers Garden,
Fort Clatsop, Lewis and Clark
and Youngs River.
• Road District 1 Budget
Committee: Five full terms
ending Feb. 28, 2022, are
available.
• Westport Sewer Service
District Budget Committee:
Five full terms ending Feb.
28, 2022.
• 4-H & Extension Service
District Budget Committee:
Kayaker dies while crabbing
bia River helicopter crews
on rotation and 47-foot
The body of a missing kay-
motor lifeboats from Sta-
aker was found late Tuesday
tion Cape Disappointment.
on the beach near the Sea-
Seaside Police Department
side Turnaround.
still is looking for the miss-
Matthew Manley, 42, of
ing kayak as they believe it
Tualatin had been report-
might yield some
ed missing at 2:45
clues to the man’s
p.m. New Year’s Day
death and may have
when he failed to
been removed from
return from a crab-
the beach shoreline
bing trip in a kayak.
on Tuesday. The
He was last spotted
body was found at
in the Seaside Estu-
the water line.
ary near the mouth
Anyone with in-
of the Necanicum
formation regarding
Manley
River.
the case is asked to
Seaside Fire and Rescue
contact Seaside Police De-
launched a search along
tective Guy Knight at 503-
with the Coast Guard using
738-6311.
helicopters and boats.
Water temperatures in the
The search was called off
winter are near 50 degrees
at 1 p.m. Tuesday due to
and can quickly cause hypo-
weather conditions and the
thermia.
probability he could not
Rescue personnel recom-
have survived the tempera-
mend letting someone know
ture and water conditions.
if you plan to be around the
Survival equipment and
water, observe proper safety
assets used in the search
and use a flotation device.
included Sector Colum-
The Columbia Press
Inset: Keeth in
the Merchant
Marines.
months his base was under
attack by the Japanese and
he saw many friends die.
He later served in the Solo-
mon Islands, in Guadalcanal
and Munda. He missed death
more than once and suffered
through six bouts of malaria,
according to old newspaper
accounts.
After the service, he worked
3
Three full terms ending Feb.
28, 2022.
Applications will be taken
through Feb. 2.
Applications are available
on the county’s website or by
calling the County Manager’s
Office at 503-325-1000.