Obituaries
From our weekly issue dated December 24, 2008
William Currin
‘Bill’ Currin
Former Cave Junction resident William “Bill” Hibbs Currin, 88, died Dec. 5, 2008 at an assisted living residence in Palmer, Alaska.
A military service was conducted at Fort Richardson National Cemetery at Anchorage on Thursday, Dec. 18. A celebration of life followed at the home of his niece, Carol Ross, in Anchorage.
His ashes will be spread at sea. Arrangements were entrusted to Valley Funeral Home in Palmer.
Mr. Currin was born on April 22, 1920, in Monroe, Ore. to Cleve J. & Mabel A. (Hibbs) Currin. After high school he joined the U.S. Navy on Feb. 18, 1941. He served on troop transports in the Pacific and aboard a submarine in the Aleutians. Four months after his discharge, in November 1946, he and his parents moved to Alaska to live near his sister, Dorothy Steadman and family, in Mt. View.
Later he purchased a lot with a small cabin next door where he lived with his parents. He ran a limousine service from Anchorage to Valdez in the early 1950s. He raised, trained and raced sled dogs; worked in the large family garden, and enjoyed hunting. After moving to Anchorage in 1960 he raised exotic poultry and became interested in genealogy.
He was a charter member of the Alaska Society of Mayflower descendants and Alaska Sons of the American Revolution. Mr. Currin married Velma (Norris) Herdina in 1973. They were active in their church; and enjoyed gardening, fishing and traveling. He retired from the U.S. Postal Service in 1980.
In 1983 he and his wife relocated to Cave Junction, where they gardened and raised prize sheep. They also traveled. In 2002 he returned to Alaska to be near family.
Mr. Currin is survived by his sister, Alice Miller, 93, a longtime Alaska resident and artist; his step-children, Bonnie Hager, Beth Asplund and Mike Herdina, all living in the Matanuska Valley; as well as many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Velma; and his sister.
‘Jim’ ‘Jip’ Seydel
Selma resident Philibert Constant “Jim” “Jip” Seydel, 86, died Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008 at a Grants Pass nursing home. A memorial service was held Thursday, Dec. 18 at Chapel of the Valley-L.B. Hall Funeral home with Pastor Ken Bern officiating.
Mr. Seydel was born in Batvia, Dutch East Indies on Dec. 18, 1922 to Karel & Evelyn (Desauvagie) Seydel. For eight years he served with K.N.I.L. (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger), the Royal Dutch Indies Army. For three and a half of those years, during World War II, he was a prisoner of war.
In 1945 in Bandung, Dutch East Indies, he met Clementine “Tina” DeWolff while they were working for the Red Cross. They married on Oct. 10, 1946 in Bandung.
Mr. Seydel attended a horticulture school in Malang, East Java. In 1957, he and his wife moved to Holland, where he worked as an electrician in the ship-building industry. They moved to San Diego in 1960, and he worked as a blue printer for a printing company. They moved to Selma in 1978.
He enjoyed hunting, fishing and carpentry. He built the home in which he and his wife lived.
Besides his wife, survivors are a son, Jerry Seydel, of Tigard, Ore.; two brothers, Ulfrich Seydel, of Torrance, Calif., and Freddy Seydel, of Bonita, Calif.; and two granddaughters. A son, Raymond, Seydel, died on April 17, 1967.
Ruth E. Chaffee
Former Cave Junction resident Ruth E. Chaffee, 93, of Grants Pass, died Monday, Dec. 15, 2008 at Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass. A family service will be held later.
Mrs. Chaffee was born on March 23, 1915 in Ontario, Calif. In 1967 she moved from Southern California to Cave Junction. She had resided during the past few years at a Grants Pass nursing home.
She was a homemaker, and was known as a wonderful grandma. She enjoyed listening to books on tape; and before she lost her vision she enjoyed knitting. She enjoyed visiting her family, especially her great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
Surviving are six children, Betty Jean Heaton, of Grants Pass, Joan Hand, of Coos Bay, William “Bill” Chaffee and Ted Chaffee, both of Nevada, Floyd Chaffee, of Cave Junction, and Rod Chaffee, of Prineville; 22 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; and 30 great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, William “Bill” Chaffee in 1993; and a son, David Lee Chaffee, in 2003.
Hull & Hull Funeral Directors is in charge of arrangements. The guest book is at www.since1928hull.com.
Mathew Wiley Low
No service is planned for Selma resident Mathew Wiley Low, 91, who died Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 at Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass.
Remembrances may be made to St. Patrick of the Forest Catholic Church, P.O. Box 1889, Cave Junction OR 97523; or St. Anne Catholic Church, 1131 N.E. 10th St., Grants Pass OR 97526.
Mr. Low was born on March 8, 1917 in Little Rock, Ark. On Aug. 6, 1940 in Los Angeles, he married Frances Garcia. He moved from California to Selma 28 years ago.
His hobbies included fishing, landscaping, camping, and restoring a 1956 Chevy Nomad.
Surviving are a son, Ron Low, of Santa Clarita, Calif.; three grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. He was preceded in death by his wife, Frances, in October 2008; and a son, Anthony Low, in 2000.
Illinois Valley Funeral Directors is in charge of arrangements.
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