1961: Alfred H. Labsap
After earning a civil engineering degree from the University of Missouri in 1907, Alfred Labsap enlisted with the Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He left for Longview in 1923 to take on the challenge of installing sewer and water lines in the city, which was being built from scratch. He was 38 at the time. In 1955, he retired as Longview’s water and sewer superintendent. Labsap married Myriam Meyer, a Missouri native, was hired by the city a year after he joined. Never without his pipe, he lived until age 81.

1962: James D. McKercher
In 1906, Jim McKercher, then a teenage farm boy in Eastern Canada, hopped freight trains bound for the West. Two years later, he arrived in Portland, where he built railroad trestles before fighting in World War I. In 1919, he married Avice Johnson in Kalama. Plentiful construction jobs lured them to Longview in 1923. Once sawmills were built, McKercher became a millwright and stayed with Long-Bell until he retired in 1954. He and Avice, a pioneer social worker, had been married 70 years when she died. McKercher lived to 104 years of age. He was fond of saying, “I’ve been retired longer than I worked.”

1963: Hildred Ellis
Hildred Amadon Ellis was a ’23 Club trailblazer. For three decades, the club’s top office had been the sole domain of “good old boys.” Hildred had the credentials to lead the club. She arrived in 1922 at age 27 from Minnesota. She was known as a genealogy buff who enjoyed studying Washington state history. Her civic involvement included P.E.O., a philanthropic sisterhood supporting education for women. Her husband, Sam Ellis, was a secretary in Long-Bell’s real estate division. She died in 1970.

1964: Favel L. “Fay” Foval
Fay Foval was among the Midwest college students who found jobs and friendships working for Long-Bell. They called themselves the Kansas City Club, and seven had long careers with the company. Foval began in July 1923, fresh out of Kansas State University with a business administration degree. He first worked in Long-Bell’s retail yard and continued through the ranks, retiring in 1964 as executive assistant to the marketing manager of International Paper’s Long-Bell Division. An early photo and brief history of him, along with a display of his seven award pins, can be seen at the Cowlitz County Historical Museum.

1965: Lucien Lanphear
At age 18, Lucien Lanphear came from Big Timber, Montana, to Longview during the year it was founded. He worked as a sales clerk for J.C. Penney Co., Korten’s, and Welch’s Men’s Wear. He and his wife, Gertrude, had two sons and belonged to Longview Community Church. Lanphear was a patron of the Masonic Lodge and the Longview Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Two years after serving as ’23 Club president, he succumbed to cancer at age 62.

1966: Herb Hadley
After serving in the South Pacific during World War II, Herb Hadley returned to Longview with a college degree, his wife, Dee, and the first two of their four children. During his career with Torrence, Edmund & Hadley Insurance Agency, he was elected to the Legislature – the first Republican in 16 years to rep- resent the 18th District. Two years later, he lost re-election by 15 votes in LBJ’s 1964 landslide. He founded Hadley Travel, Longview Sandbaggers, and the Discovery Club in addition to being an original trustee of The Evergreen State College. Fifty years ago, he chaired Longview’s Golden Jubilee.

1967: Redford L. Simmons
Redford “Ford” Simmons worked as a wheelbarrow pusher when the Monticello Hotel was built. Afterward, he continued working in construction. Structures he helped build included the National Bank of Commerce, Empire Drug, and the Myklebust building. In 1935, he got into the insurance business, which he viewed as a calling. “I’ve always looked on my insurance work as a kind of ministry … to the widows and orphans … the sick and aged,” he told The Daily News. When he was ’23 Club president, he was district supervisor of the Business Men’s Assurance Co.

1968: Amos J. Peters
Amos Peters, the fourth youngest of 12 children, was here in 1923. He and his family first lived in a tent on the Cowlitz River. He grew up to be a general contractor who was fond of saying, “We bridge the gap from the smallest to the tallest!” The smallest was his brainchild – the iconic, whimsical, and first-in-the-world footbridge for squirrels, the Nutty Narrows Bridge on Olympia Way. The tallest is the eight-story Campus Towers, a senior living complex. A squirrel statue dedicated to him for his life’s work and love for Longview stands watch over the Nutty Narrows Bridge.

1969: Emary Piper
Emary “Em” Piper was born in Alberta, Canada, the eldest son of Frank and Martha Piper. When Frank learned that a lumber mill was being built in Longview, he piled the family into his Model A Ford and drove south. He landed a job constructing the Long-Bell mills. Em met his wife-to-be, Jane Gebert, while in the eighth grade at Kessler School. He was a four-letter athlete at R.A. Long and at the College of Puget Sound. He taught briefly at Kelso before teaching and coaching track and wrestling at R.A. Long where he became vice principal.

1970: John McClelland Jr.
He came here from Arkansas in 1923 when he was 8 and watched the city and the Longview Daily News grow from the ground up. He graduated from R.A. Long High School in 1933 and from Stanford in 1937. In 1939, he married Burdette Craig. Three years later, he found him- self in the U.S. Navy. A gunnery officer, he fought during the Battle of Okinawa. Afterwards, he became the News’ publisher and wrote several books, including three editions of Longview’s history. Much of his private life was dedicated to serving the city, county, and state in several capacities.