January 5, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 9A
County loses last Pearl Harbor attack survivor
Keeth was
a witness to
Japanese
bombing
By Edward Stratton
Seaside Signal
Spurgeon D. Keeth, who
was Clatsop County’s last liv-
ing survivor of the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, died
Thursday, Dec. 28. He was 92.
After spending most his
life in Wapato, Washington,
in the Yakima Valley, Keeth
moved to Hammond in 2015
to be cared for by his daughter,
Donna Barnett, and her hus-
band, Bill. Keeth led a more
private life and hadn’t be-
longed to any veterans groups
in Washington state, Barnett
said.
“When he came here,
things changed,” she said. “He
couldn’t socialize a lot, but
when people found out there
was a Pearl Harbor survivor,
they went nuts.”
Keeth became a local ce-
lebrity on the North Coast
and the county’s last living
survivor of the attack after the
death of Seaside’s Bill Thom-
as a year ago. Thomas, a sailor
on the Navy’s USS Medusa
during the attack, helped lead
COLIN MURPHEY/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Spurgeon D. Keeth, left, Clatsop County’s last living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor,
died Thursday, Dec. 28.
the effort to dedicate Seaside’s
First Avenue Bridge the Pearl
Harbor Memorial Bridge in
2000.
Keeth received free mem-
bership in American Legion
Post 99 in Seaside and Clat-
sop Post 12 in Astoria and be-
came a fixture at local parades
and an annual wreath-laying
ceremony on the memorial
bridge.
Mike Phillips of Clatsop
Post 12 said Keeth was one
of about 50 World War II-
era members of the post. Jay
Blount, a spokesman with the
National Park Service World
War II Valor in the Pacific
National Monument, told The
Oregonian earlier this year
there are likely fewer than
2,000 Pearl Harbor survivors
left.
Keeth joined the Army at
16 and was stationed at Scho-
field Barracks in Honolulu.
He was on kitchen duty at the
time of the attack on Dec. 7,
1941.
“He went out to dump po-
tato peelings, and he heard
unexpected sounds of planes,”
Barnett said. “Then he looked
up, and saw the rising sun on
the planes.”
American Legion: Helping those who help
‘We’re blessed to
be able to give’
By Brenna Visser
Seaside Signal
When community mem-
bers started trickling slowly
in for Christmas dinner at
the Seaside American Legion
Post 99, they passed a table
filled with knitted hats and
fleece gloves.
“How much?” one person
asked. “Are these for me?”
another inquired.
Behind the table fielding
the questions was Marilyn
Falker, a longtime member
of the American Legion Aux-
iliary service group. To fight
dropping temperatures, fel-
low volunteers knitted a va-
riety of hats for free. Earlier
Saturday morning, Dec. 23,
she swung by a thrift store
and bought the pile of gloves
to accompany them.
“Take whatever makes
you smile,” she said.
Each year, the Legion
hosts a Christmas dinner,
where volunteers serve hot
plates of turkey and potatoes,
all free and open to anyone
who walks through the doors.
While the primary focus
of the Legion is to serve vet-
erans, on days like this their
goal is to help whoever needs
it, events coordinator Bud
BRENNA VISSER/SEASIDE SIGNAL
American Legion Auxiliary member Marilyn Falker helps
guests at the Christmas dinner choose a knitted hat.
‘When you help, you just stop
thinking about the things you’re
going through, because 99
percent of the time, you know
what? They’re not that bad.’
Marilyn Falker
Thompson said.
It’s a goal the Legion
keeps in mind throughout
the year, even after the hol-
iday lights are taken down
and Christmas music recedes
from the radio airwaves.
Falker is a volunteer who has
made the goal a lifestyle.
When she’s not handing
out hats and gloves, she’s
judiciously restocking and
checking the charity box
the Legion maintains for the
homeless with items like
toothpaste, deodorant and
coupons. About four times a
year, she crochets lap robes
for veterans.
The auxiliary’s goal is to
work on overcoming the hur-
dle of how to let those in need
know that these resources are
available to them, she said.
“It’s about choice, em-
powering people to take what
they need,” Falker said. “But
we have a hard time know-
ing how many veterans are
around who need this help.”
Falker’s passion for the
Legion started about 20 years
ago after her husband, an
Army veteran, died suddenly.
She went all over town to dif-
ferent churches and groups,
looking for a sense of com-
munity.
With her husband’s service
as a connection, she found
her home at the Legion.
“This is the place that
said ‘you can give what you
have,’” Falker said. “Reach-
ing out to other people whose
story we don’t know is so
important. We’re blessed to
be able to give, whether it’s a
smile or some yarn.”
Her volunteer work has
continued to be an outlet.
Between the loss of her hus-
band and acting as a full-time
caretaker for her two disabled
sons, the work she does is as
much a benefit to herself as it
is to the community it serves,
she said.
“This is my escape,” she
said, running over to open a
door for an outgoing dinner
guest.
“When you help, you just
stop thinking about the things
you’re going through, be-
cause 99 percent of the time,
you know what? They’re not
that bad.”
Sharing the newcomer experience
Woman seeks to start North Coast Newcomer Group
By Brenna Visser
‘It’s very hard
to break into
relationships and
groups.…when
someone new
moves in they are
very nice, but you
don’t get invited
to anything. And I
understand that,
but I also want to
change it.’
Seaside Signal
There’s a lot about Gear-
hart Ellie Ludy has grown to
love. The scenery is breath-
taking and the people are
kind, she said.
Having an elk herd wan-
der through town is another
bonus she didn’t expect when
she moved to the coast about
a year ago.
“It just is unbelievable,”
Ludy laughed. “I knew there
would be elk, but I didn’t
know they would come into
your yard!”
She contemplated moving
to Portland after her children
and grandchildren moved
to Hillsboro, but decided to
semi-retire and transition
into a “tranquil” life by the
beach. She chose Gearhart
for its quaint aesthetic and
quiet vibe, she said.
“I grew up on the beach
on a little island off southern
California and I just loved
this area,” she said. “I orig-
inally looked in the Portland
area and I started to wonder
why I was changing from one
highly dense community for
another.”
The ability to meet new
Ellie Ludy
friends is one aspect of North
Coast living she has found
to be more difficult. A sales
executive at Ticor Title in
Seaside, Ludy meets numer-
ous clients in the real estate
industry, but meeting people
outside of work is proving to
more of a challenge.
“That’s why I want to
start the North Coast New-
comers group,” Ludy said.
“I think like any small com-
munity, it’s very hard to
break into relationships and
groups of people who have
Ellie Ludy
been friends for maybe 20
or 30 years. You have these
cemented groups. And when
someone new moves in they
are very nice, but you don’t
get invited to anything. And
I understand that, but I also
want to change it.”
Ludy got the idea after
living and working in Napa
Valley, California for the past
five years. When she first
moved to Sonoma, there was
a variety of activity clubs
newcomers could join to
meet others. The North Coast
Newcomers group would
focus on connecting mainly
retirees, she said, who she
envisions would participate
in monthly lunches or group
activities outdoors.
She hopes to get the
word out starting in January
through “newcomer packets”
she hands out at Ticor Title
for new homeowners.
“I love to bike ride and to
cook and to golf, but I want
to find other women who
like to do that, too,” she said.
“I’ve heard the same problem
from other new people. If I
put this out there, I think they
will come.”
Overall, Ludy still cele-
brates her decision to com-
mit to beach life. The rain
can be tiresome, she said,
but also “is also what makes
this place so beautiful.” Ev-
ery so often she yearns for
the restaurants and wineries
that make the Napa Valley
famous in the culinary world.
But with ocean views a
few blocks away and the
elk outside her white pick-
et fence, she’s reminded of
the tranquility that drew her
here.
“It’s a perfect fit for me,”
Ludy said.
Her father didn’t talk about
the attack much, she said, be-
sides that he watched sever-
al of his friends die. Keeth
served in the Pacific during
World War II, including bat-
tles at Guadalcanal and in the
Solomon Islands. In a 1944
interview with the the Yaki-
ma Herald, Keeth described
surviving nearby shell explo-
sions, a 19-day siege and be-
ing shot at and missed from 3
yards away.
“He could have touched
me with his rifle,” Keeth told
the newspaper of his run-in
with the Japanese soldier. “I
don’t know how he happened
to miss.”
After the war, Keeth mar-
ried Ruby, and the couple had
four children and nine grand-
children. Most of the family
still resides in Yakima Valley,
Barnett said. Keeth attended
Perry Trade School and learned
to be a mechanic who special-
ized in bodies and fenders.
“Dad was so handy,” Bar-
nett said, describing her father
taking apart a surplus house
at Fort Vancouver, Washing-
ton, and reassembling it as the
family home in Wapato. “He
self-taught himself to do ev-
erything.”
Keeth strung together
jobs picking fruit, baking and
working at local automotive
shops before spending 30
years as the shop foreman ser-
vicing vehicles on the federal
Wapato Irrigation Project in
the Yakima Valley. After retir-
ing, Keeth volunteered at lo-
cal parks and drove buses part
time for the school district and
fruit farmers.
Ruby Keeth cared for her
husband until falling and
breaking her hip, after which
he moved to Hammond.
Keeth was quickly embraced
by local veterans and other
volunteer organizations, who
outfitted Barnett’s house with
ramps for Keeth’s wheelchair
and a specialized shower. He
became especially popular
at Camp Rilea Armed Forc-
es Training Center, where he
once visited for a doctor’s ap-
pointment and ended up hav-
ing lunch with an entire troop.
“There were so many peo-
ple wanting to meet him,”
Barnett said. “Some grown
men, my age, would walk
away crying. He would re-
mind them of someone in
their family. They’d be so
touched by meeting dad.
“At the end, they all said,
‘Thank you Mr. Keeth for
joining us today.’ Camp Rilea
was just amazing to dad.”
A memorial for Keeth will
be held Saturday at Camp
Rilea.
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