75 years ago
June 8, 1942
Robert Nelsoo, in a transcontinental phone call to his parents, informed them Saturday that he had landed safely after the boat on which he had been traveling was torpedoed in the Atlantic that week.
The lifeboat in which Nelson was a passenger was adrift 62 hours. He was one of five Northwest boys who left Seattle as members of the American field service volunteer group, and was bound for England to become an ambulance driver.
The British merchantman on which the boys were traveling was struck by two torpedoes.
June 9, 1942
Private Donald F. Smith, who recently published a book, “Are You Sure of America” or the “Spirit of Youth Today” has gained recognition from Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt in her “My Day column.”
“I hope it will be read by a great many young people, because Private Smith takes up many of the questions which confront youth in this somewhat confusing world and deals with them in an honest and simple manner,” she said.
50 years ago
June 8, 1967
William Bell, a 1966 graduate of Grays Harbor College, recently decided to return to the Harbor from California. But before he left his place of employment at the Fairchild Semi-Conductor plant in Mountain View, Calif., the management indicated to him they would certainly appreciate his trying to recruit a number of 1967 electronic’s graduates from his old alma mater.
So Bell visited his former instructor, Win Shaffer, and emphasized the serious shortage of technicians all electronic companies are facing.
The beginning pay for a technician fresh out of school is between five and six hundred a month and a senior electronics engineer can make up to $1,200 per month.
June 9, 1967
• The State Highway Department has received no assurance that State Highway 105 between Tokeland and Grayland can be protected from erosion by the Willapa Channel and therefore is going ahead with plans to relocate the road on the bluff above the erosion site. It has been estimated that the present road will be breached within three and a half years.
• The Dr. Nevitt Memorial Swimming Pool in Raymond will open its summer season Monday. Admission prices this year are 15 cents for children, 35 cents for students, 75 cents for adults and $1.50 for families.
25 years ago
June 8, 1992
Her mother was a teacher as were seven aunts.
“And the one thing I was not going to be was a teacher,” recalled Jean Sevey laughing. In all, she’s been in education for 34 years, 22 of those at Stevens Elementary in South Aberdeen.
And now it’s time to retire.
Her husband, Bob, retired three years ago as principal of Central Park Elementary.
Vera Rattie has been an instructional aide in Mrs. Sevey’s classroom for years.
“I can’t face the fact that this lady is going to go,” Rattie said. “I don’t think you can put in words what she is for education … I’ve seen young men who are now six feet tall, come back through this door and give this lady a hug.”
June 9, 1992
In a word, “varied” describes the career of soft-spoken Aberdeen teacher Joe Bach.
He now teaches Chapter 1 and resource students at Alexander Young — and will until the end of the week.
Then Bach will retire after 29 years in education — 22 of them in the Aberdeen School District. His experience includes being a classroom teacher, coaching basketball and football at the junior high, and baseball and rifle teams at the high school.
Bach said the break down of the family structure has shown its effects in the classroom. “Some students are not getting the direction on how to proceed and not getting enough encouragement to do better in school.
“I think this is affecting a lot of them who are falling through the cracks because of a lack of continuity between home and school,” Bach said.
Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom
