June 1, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Legion membership drops in Cannon Beach
As 100-year
anniversary
approaches,
American Legion
membership
falters
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Hundreds attended Me-
morial Day events around the
county in memory of those
who died while serving in the
military.
But as wreath ceremonies
and flag salutes unfolded, con-
cerns about the longevity of the
institution that largely coordi-
nates these events remained a
troublesome undercurrent to an
already somber holiday.
The American Legion, a
wartime veterans organiza-
tion that focuses on veteran
outreach and community ser-
vice, will celebrate its 100th
anniversary in 2019. But it
has been declining in mem-
bership nationwide for years.
In Oregon alone, member-
ship has dropped from around
21,500 in 2005 to 16,700 last
year — and local legion posts
are also feeling the crunch.
Mike Phillips, the adju-
tant of Clatsop Post 12 of the
American Legion, said while
the local finances have re-
mained stable, membership
between the Legion, Auxil-
iary and Sons of the Amer-
ican Legion branches have
dropped from 1,110 when he
joined in 2002 down to below
800.
With fewer people joining,
worries have mounted about
who will take over organizing
traditional ceremonies and
events.
“We want to get more
young people involved,” Phil-
lips said. “We only have about
50 members from Middle East
wars — that’s the same as our
World War II membership.”
At American Legion Post
168 in Cannon Beach, mem-
bership has dropped about 25
percent in the last 10 years,
Adjutant Agris Pavlovskis
said. But what has impact-
ed this post more has been a
decline in turnout at fundrais-
ing events like classic oyster
feeds and rib night specials.
“We’re not in dire straits.
We’re just coming to a point
where we can’t continue like
this,” Pavlovskis said.
Fewer people attending
fundraising events is begin-
ning to impact the Legion’s
ability to pay for community
events like the Memorial Day
wreath ceremony and Fourth
of July parade, he said.
With less money coming
in and newly-instituted city
requirements to buy liabili-
ty insurance cutting into re-
serves, for the first time the
Legion will have to require
parade participants to pay a
$5 fee to enter. The organi-
zation may need to find other
revenue sources if the parade
is to continue.
“It’s a national trend,”
Pavlovskis said. “We do a lot
of community service, but
every time we dig out money
from the reserves, the less we
can do to help veterans.”
The cause for the drop is
hard to identify. Pavlovskis
said in general it is always
harder to get younger people
interested in community ser-
vice when they are busy with
jobs and families.
Some larger, cultural
changes about how the mil-
itary is perceived in general
could be partially to blame,
Phillips said. Locally, with an
active Coast Guard popula-
tion, there are probably more
options for younger veterans
in town to congregate else-
where, Phillips said.
“The average age is 70
when you walk into the Le-
gion,” he laughed. “They
probably still do a lot of their
partying elsewhere.”
But there is reason to be
hopeful. With the 100-year
anniversary of the American
Legion approaching, Phillips
hopes the message of helping
veterans will again be at the
forefront of people’s minds.
“We just have to keep
maintaining the spirit of the
post,” he said. “Because as
long as you have that, you’ll
be okay.”
OBITUARIES
Tevis Ernest Dooley Jr.
John Sandsted
Cannon Beach
Dec. 11, 1928 — April 22, 2018
Cannon Beach
Dec. 23, 1935 — April 24, 2018
Tevis Ernest Dooley Jr., of Cannon Beach,
sailed away on the morning of April 22 from
Avamere in Seaside, Oregon, surrounded by
his family. Tevis was born Dec. 11, 1928, on
the island of Guam, the first of four children to
Florence Herrero and Tevis E. Dooley Sr.
At 15, as a freshman at Seaside High
School, he met his future wife, Lily Genevive
Forsythe. In 1946, at 17, he joined the Navy,
but was reunited with Lily during training in
San Francisco, California, where they mar-
ried in 1949, and got busy with life and family
while he finished his service as a submariner.
In San Diego, in January 1950, their first
child, Melissa Ann, was born. From there it
was to the University of Oregon, where he en-
rolled in architecture and they had two more
children, Maureen Ann and Tevis E. III.
With a growing family, his search for em-
ployment led to California, where he worked
at numerous architectural and engineering of-
fices, eventually settling in Los Gatos in 1958,
and set up his own practice. Two more chil-
dren, Colleen Ann and Shana Ann, joined the
family, and all five children graduated from
Los Gatos High School.
Tevis went on to join the Architectural Di-
vision of Santa Clara County, eventually be-
coming the Public Works managing architect,
with a staff of 36. He oversaw designs for ev-
erything from public parks to airports, court
houses, and hospitals.
By 1984, with all the children grown and
on their own, he and Lily moved up to Can-
non Beach, Oregon, preceded by three of the
five children. Again he set up his own practice,
designing many fine homes, the first being his
own for once, where he and Lily lived out their
days, filling it with ever increasing amounts
of loving memories as the family continued to
grow.
Tevis Dooley Jr. is survived by his sister,
Doreen (Dooley) Allison; and brother, Al-
lan Dooley; his children, Melissa (Dooley)
Meidinger, Maureen Dooley-Sroufe, Tevis E.
Dooley III, Colleen (Dooley) Balzer, and Sha-
na (Dooley) Giess; 10 grandchildren; and nine
great-grandchildren. Lily left us in February
2010.
Tevis was driven by an insatiable appetite to
study the world around him, and his interests
were extensive. A gifted artist, excellent pho-
tographer with a keen eye for design, wheth-
er it be furniture or a civic building, he was
known for unusual cars, (one of the first in the
U.S. to own both a Volkswagen Micro Bus and
a Bug), and as a snappy dresser.
He loved hiking the Sierras and wherever
the land met the sea. He left an extensive li-
brary, and no doubt about the importance of
family. He imparted to all around him a fierce
sense of civic duty, of history and community
service, sat on numerous committees, attained
a state level Fédération Internationale de Foot-
ball Association (FIFA) soccer referee cer-
tificate, and in his last years volunteered as a
Court Appointed Special Advocate. The world
is a better place for his living in it.
John Sandsted passed away on April 24, four stepchildren. He found his greatest joy in
2018, at Samaritan Evergreen Hospice in Al- being a grandfather. John was a skilled wood-
bany, Oregon, following a brief battle with worker and made beautiful pieces of furniture
for his grandchildren.
mesothelioma.
Marge and John attended North
John was born in Portland, Ore-
gon, on Dec. 23, 1935, to Peter and
Coast Family Fellowship, and were
Frances Sandsted. After attending
active in the Bible study for seniors.
Benson High School in Portland,
In 2004, John and Marge rebuilt Sea
John went to work as a plumber
Breeze Court in Cannon Beach, and
for Industrial Plumbing, which was
he took great pride in his work at
owned by his family.
the motel. After Marge had a stroke,
Due to disabilities that John
John would take time away from
faced, his mother was fiercely de-
the motel to go to the nursing home
voted to him. John and his mother
to help her eat her meals. Marge
passed away May 22, 2017.
loved to go boating on the Columbia
John Sandsted
John is survived by his stepchil-
River with a large group of friends,
dren, Janice Filley (Dave) of Alba-
and in the early 1970s they bought
ny, Oregon, Ken Quarles (Stepha-
a home in Cannon Beach. They en-
joyed clam digging and had a beautiful collec- nie) of Cannon Beach, Oregon, Bev Buschert
tion of Japanese glass floats. John took care of (Matt) of Tualatin, Oregon, and Nancy Pannel
his mother until she lost her battle with cancer. (George) of Henderson, Nevada. John had
John enjoyed helping others, and spent years nine grandchildren and seven great-grand-
children. He is also survived by his beloved
driving friends to doctor appointments.
Friends and neighbors were surprised when Dachshund, Bernie.
Cannon Beach has always had a cast of col-
John announced that at the age of 62 he would
be marrying for the first time. John married orful characters, and John fit perfectly into this
Marjorie Quarles in 1998, and enjoyed having cast. He will be greatly missed.
Obituary Policy
The Cannon Beach Gazette publishes paid obituaries. The obituary
can include a small photo and, for veterans, a flag symbol at no
charge. The deadline for all obituaries is 9 a.m. the business day prior.
Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper punctuation and
style. Death notices and upcoming services will be published at no
charge. Notices must be submitted by 9 a.m. the day of publication.
Thank You!
To the Clatsop County District 5 voters, my warmest thanks for your sup-
port in reelecting me to the Board of County Commissioners. Your votes,
your kindness, your good ideas, and your constructive criticism all nour-
ish and guide me as I work for you, my bosses.
Milk chocolate sand castles,
chocolate shells and much
more to make this the sweetest
trip to the beach!
Together we can cooperate with people all over Clatsop County, the re-
gion, and the state to address the issues facing us. Those vitally import-
ant matters include housing, ecologically sustainable economic develop-
ment, and resilience.
As we honor each other and the beautiful place we call home, we can
love the people and the planet.
Let’s go forward together to bring out the best and deal with the worst.
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