KUUF Profiles: Member - Bonner Sams

What brought you to KUUF?

Bonner: In the late 2009 I was looking for a spiritual outlet. I was once affiliated with the Radical Fairy organization out of Seattle, Washington but since moving to Bremerton in 2001 my participation with them waned. Late in 2009 I was seeking a spiritual outlet locally and Michael Goodnow, who I knew outside of KUUF, tried suggesting that I attend KUUF in around 05-06 and I was like ‘A church? No, no, no, no. Not for me thank you.’ Then I did a little research on UU and on January 2, 2010, I showed up for my first service at KUUF and I fell in love with it from day one.

Do you have a favorite memory?

Bonner: Being a Gemini, it’s hard to tag down favorites of anything. I do have some favorable memories. 

What did/do you do for a career?

Bonner: I am a licensed massage therapist.

How’d you get into that?

Bonner: I love massage therapy and I was seeking a new career about 2011 and a housemate suggested I go to massage school and that made sense to me. I looked into massage school and that was the start of my massage career. I started in September 2011 and graduated in June of 2012.

What are now or have been some of your best talents or achievements?

Bonner: I think I’m pretty at being a good listener. And I’m also a damn good cook. And a damn good licensed massage therapist. Before the pandemic struck us,  I used to prepare a monthly supper for the local HIV positive community. And I did that for six years. I used to prepare the entire meal for six years from when I was on the Board of Directors of the Kitsap HIV foundation, which went defunct in 2013. We started it back up in 2015 and since we don’t have the funding now that we did then, we do it as a potluck and I will still prepare the main entrée for each supper and that seems to be a big hit. Since the pandemic hit we’ve only met in May and June and we actually added a second potluck inPort Angeles. When we’re not stricken with pandemic we do one every month in Bremerton and the following week up in Port Angeles. They seem to be pretty popular.

Did you come from any other faith tradition?  What was it, and how did it affect you?

Bonner: Yes, I was born and raised in the Moravian church in North Carolina.  My hometown-- Winston Salem-- was founded by the Moravians in 1763. They were a simple protestant denomination and they were never too crazy Christian. In 1983 I denounced all forms of Christianity and became Atheist. I remained an Atheist until 1989. A little sawed off stump of a dyke who worked at the local gay and lesbian bookstore--North Carolina White Rabbit Books-- turned me onto the book The Spiral Dance by Starhawk and that introduced me to the Wiccan faith. I still somewhat practice Wicca through the CUUPS organization at KUUF.  I would like to see CUUPS become more predominate in KUUF like it did back during our displeasure when Rev. Mike was still with us. That was probably one of the best things about Rev. Mike, his support of CUUPS.

What events or projects at KUUF do you like to take part in?

Bonner: I was a member of the Audio/visual task force with Mack Johnson and Sterling Fisher. We research the AV equipment purchase and installation in our sanctuary. I really liked doing that. I also served one term on the board of trustees from 2013-2016. 

But currently I’m also on the Social Justice Committee and I’ve done the Second Friday Film Series which we are so psyched about getting back up now that we have AV equipment in our sanctuary. 

I’ve thought about doing a Second Friday Film Series through Zoom, but I haven’t tackled that yet. But anyway, more will be revealed in that regard. I’m also currently on the Worship Committee and I’ve been really digging that particular service. 

 I suggested to Rev. Jessica at a Worship Committee that I would really like it if we could somehow have a midweek evening service. Rev. Jessica asked what do you envision for this? Just something with some music and maybe some readings and make a regular Vespers service. She took the mantle and she made it happen. With it, Nancy Sleight and I were on a small task force with her to develop the format which she developed in two or three weeks and within the month we were Zooming Vespers services on Wednesday’s at 7:30. They have been so beneficial to me because being on the Worship Committee  you sorta see the nuts and bolts of how services are put together and sometimes I don’t get as much spiritual fulfillment from a Sunday service as I would have otherwise. Sorta like the old idiom of seeing sausage being made. Anyway, the vesper services have been very spiritually fulfilling for me. I love zooming them and I look forward to Wednesdays now.

Who or what has had the biggest impact on your life?

Bonner: Narcotics Anonymous has had the most impact on my life.

What is one piece of knowledge that you would consider indispensable?

Bonner: Keep coming back or comparisons are odious; My grandfather always used to say that.

What most appeals to you about UUism at this point in your life?

Bonner: The seven principles. I’m really digging the seven principles, especially the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings, or actually of all beings. I’m also a big proponent of consensus based decision making which is like the democratic process on steroids. I think that consensus based decision making is more spiritually founded than a mere 51% majority. When we seat a minister they must have a 90% majority with a 50% quorum of the congregation. As opposed to like a 51% democratic process with a 20% quorum for most of our other abilities. So I think that consensus based decision making is like the 5th principal on steroids.

What is a weird piece of trivia about you?

Bonner: I squashed my magnolia mouth when I moved to Seattle in 1990. I moved to Seattle from North Carolina in 1990 and I had magnolia mouth, which is like speaking with a Southern accent.  I intentionally squashed my magnolia mouth southern accent after I moved to Seattle in 1990 because complete strangers were mocking me. 

What is the most interesting/unusual job you’ve done?

Bonner: I worked for the building department of Wachovia Bank and Trust in Winston Salem, North Carolina in the summer of 1985. One day I was tasked with following a dump truck to the landfill because they were remodeling one of the offices and during the remodeling process all people in the office were told to box up all of their files and personal belongings in bank boxes, which are cardboard file boxes. The clean up crew came through on the weekend and took all of those boxes and threw them away in a dumpster and then the dumpster got put in a garbage truck and on Monday morning the office workers came in and they realized that all their files and personal belongings weren’t there. They tracked it down and were able to keep the garbage truck from leaving but two other employees and I were tasked with following the garbage truck to the landfill and wading through to retrieve as much of the personal belongings and files as possible. AND it was right next to all the refuse from the cafeteria and it was a hot August day in 1985. It was like 90-some degrees and 90% humidity. Yuck. And I was allowed to go home and change once we finished. So that’s one of the most unusual things I had to do for a particular job. 

What is something that most people at KUUF don’t know about you?

Bonner: I’ve been an open book since I’ve been there. What’s something you don’t know about me, Joey?

There’s a lot I don’t know about you. Where did you grow up?

Bonner: I was born and raised in Winston Salem, North Carolina. I went to an all male boarding school for four years in high school?

Did you get up to any shenanigans? 

Bonner: Yeah I did. On April Fools Day we loved to play pranks on people. One of the famous ones was putting shaving cream in the hallway pay phone earpiece then call that phone and watch somebody answer it and get shaving cream in their ear.

What has brought you comfort or entertainment during the coronavirus shutdown?

Bonner: Zoom. I Zoom daily. I am so f**king grateful for zoom and you can quote me on that. Zoom has made it possible for me to connect with my family members back on the east coast and I’ve been zooming my 12 step meetings on a daily basis. We have members zooming in to a local meeting here from around the world. We’ve had members from Berlin, Pakistan, Johannesburg- South Africa, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand on a regular basis. They have been zoomed in from that far away. So it’s been keeping me connected and casting a really wide net. Take this last Wednesday night, my mother and my sister both zoomed into the Vespers service. My sister lives in DC proper and my mom lives in North Carolina.

Artists are used to ‘hunkering’

BREMERTON — Alan Newberg was practicing social distancing well before the state's "stay home" edict.

Isolation is not a foreign concept to artists like Newberg, who spend much of their time alone, in studios, creating. In Newberg's case, he's recently been finding art in hunks of wood and gnarled root systems that he can shape and varnish into things of beauty.

"I've been hunkered down in my studio for the better part of a year," he said of his preparations for a two-person show (with painter Jane Friedman) which was to be on display during April at Port Townsend's Northwind Arts Center.

The key phrase there? Was to. As efforts to slow the advance of the COVID-19 coronovirus by shutting down public gatherings intensified, the show was put on indefinite hold.

"The posters and show announcement were printed and ready to send out when Northwind cancelled," Newberg said. "It looks like it will not take place until April or May of 2021, maybe later than that."

Newberg said the decision — made before Gov. Jay Inslee closed down all non-essential businesses for at least two weeks in an effort to keep people at home and prevent the spread of the virus — was understandable. But disappointing nonetheless.

"This was to be the biggest deal for me, art-wise, since the show at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art," he said of a three-month exhibit, "Abstractions in Wood," in 2017.

Newberg's not a stranger to anyone on the Kitsap art scene. He's one of the founders of the Collective Visions Art Gallery, a Pacific Avenue fixture, and one of the driving forces behind the CVG Show, a statewide juried show that has become one of the state's most anticipated and prestigious in its 13-year history. Also an accomplished painter of large-scale pieces, his murals have greeted downtown Bremerton habitues and tourists alike for decades.

Newberg managed to find a silver lining in having his show placed on hold by the anti-virus efforts.

"I've been impacted (by the pandemic)," he said. "Fortunately, I have not been ill, though."

He said he'll use the time until the show can actually open to continue working on its centerpiece, which he described as "a 6-foot-tall full-figurer portrait carving of Nina Simone, as if it was still due for unveiling April 1."

That'll keep him "hunkered" for part of the lockdown, anyway.

Find Newberg's artist's profile and examples of his work at the Collective Visions Art Gallery Web site.

https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/entertainment/blogs/kitsap-ae/2020/03/24/art-time-covid-19-how-local-arts-community-coping/2909549001/  

KUUF Profiles: Nonagenarians - Hobie Denny

What brought you to KUUF?

Hobie: It was just a continuation of my spiritual growth and I’d read something about unitarian universalist thing and I came here to check it out and see what was going on. It stuck.

Do you have a favorite memory of your life?

Hobie: Oh I guess, one of my favorite memories would be when I was keeping my son in hospice care and I spent ten weeks with him. He was dying of AIDS and he’s my oldest son. There wasn’t anybody else that could take care of him so I was with him. I remember after he passed away of going home and I got this golden glow over me saying to me “You’re the right person, at the right place, at the right time to take care of me.” And it just felt good knowing I was there for him.

Why do you think you’ve lived to this age?

Hobie: Well, I can tell you without any equivocation it has nothing to do with good clean living because I have abused myself over the years in terms of drinking a lot and working hard and losing sleep, a lot of pressure and anxiety and raising four children so, I really don’t know what to attribute it to. It’s not genetic because my parents died and my brothers died at relatively young ages. But for whatever reason, I’ve lived this long and continue to live well and be healthy.

What did you do for a career?

Hobie: I call myself a tin can peddler. When I got out of college I joined Continental Can Company, which was a huge multi-national corporation and they made tin cans of all kinds, beer cans, soft drinks, aerosol, paint, motor oil- you name it they made the cans. So I went into work with them right in 1951 and became a sales man and worked in Indiana and Wisconsin. Later on in my career I was in the marketing department and Product development. And my big claim to fame is making the- no, not making but bringing the steel easy-open can to the market place. It was easy to have the aluminum easy-open because they tear, but nobody had the technology to do it with steel. The reason Steel was important, a lot of things like Chili and canned foods, vending machine kind of foods, you can’t use aluminum because they have salt that eats up the tin. So my company developed the can and I was the facilitator. We had people from research, engineering, manufacturing, sales, food technology working with me to bring that to the marketplace. So now you see them all over the place. It was important early on because hot vended foods you needed a can opener around to open them and that was complicated, so we developed the easy open can and it became a big thing.

What are now or have been some of your best talents or achievements?

Hobie: I think my best talent, which led to my best achievement is being a facilitator of getting other people to work with me in a group organization to get things done and one of the examples is I started a fellowship in Gig Harbor, a UU fellowship and got a group of people around me that took care of writing a constitution, the finances, programs, all that kind of stuff. And basically what I was, was a facilitator to help them get together and do the job of starting a new fellowship. One of the things we did was an Empty Bowl project where we sold bowls that were made by the potters in Gig Harbor and we sold at the blue grass festivals in Olalla and we made $10,000 for the food banks. I was really proud of that but I had six people working with me on the organization of it, so my job was getting it together and making it work. So facilitating is my strength.

What's the most surprising change in our country's history that has occurred in your lifetime?

Hobie: I’m not sure that it started in my lifetime but the most amazing thing that happened was the electrification of our communities. The reason I bring this up is because my grandparents lived on a farm down on the hills of Kentucky and I used to go visit them as a child and they had no electricity so anything to do with pumping water, refrigeration, radios, lighting. It was all kerosene, coal water kind of situation so I think, if you just think about it, the advent of electricity in our homes has made such a huge change in the quality of our life. I was as I’ve grown, I guess the nearest thing next to that is the cellphone. And I think that instrument has replaced so many other instruments in your house and I just think it’s awesome what I can do now with my cellphone.

What events or projects at KUUF do you like to take part in?

Hobie: I like greeting people and once I meet them kind of adopt them into the community and try to find out what their interests are and what their strengths are and how they fit in and make them feel welcome because quite often in UU fellowships, they’re not as welcoming as you might expect, partly because a lot of people when they come to the fellowship services, they do committee work, they see their fellow committee people in the lobby and start talking about the projects they’re working on and they have a tendency not to look to the new people. So my mission is to get to know them and find out what they’re interested in and help them integrate into the situation. Just the recent occurrence of Robin Sing. She came in and she was quote “a lost soul” drifting around to see what’s going on and I worked with her and since I’ve become close to her as a friend kind of situation and now she’s become involved in our community with the meditation part.

Who or what has had the biggest impact on your life?

Hobie: There’s so many people but I would say probably my second son, his name is Bob, Robert, and he’s not just my son, he’s my best friend. Over the years he’s just been so supportive of me and caring and he keeps in touch with me. He calls me once a week. Which is unusual in my family because we’re the kind of family that if you have a problem, we’re there to help you but we don’t keep on top of each other all the time. But my son Bob, he helped me be a good father and he certainly helped me be a friend.

What is one piece of knowledge that you would consider indispensable?

Hobie: I think the most significant that has helped me is about is about 20 – 25 years ago I came to the conclusion that I was okay. That I was a decent person. I was raised in a Christian environment that taught you about guilt trips. I was growing up in an era of being a hillbilly, so I had an inferiority complex, which incidentally helped me in my business career because overcoming my inferiority complex made me much more competitive in the business world. And Competitive not getting hit working hard and getting the job done, But once I learned to accept myself without all the guilt trips and the negative feelings my life became much more pleasant and much happier and the real benefit to it beside loving myself, accepting myself, was that I could extend that to other people. Changed my life.

KUUF Profiles: Nonagenarians - Nancy Sennett

Joey Witherspoon, KUUF Office Assistant interviewed KUUF’s four nonagenarians (people who are between 90-99 years old).

What brought you to KUUF?

Nancy: I was 17 and I was looking for a church and I went to the various churches in my town and each time I’d come out and say ‘nope’. And then one day passed and a boy in school said, “there’s this sensible church you might want to try.” So I tried the sensible church that was right across the street and I said ‘Yep.’

And it was a UU church?

Nancy: It was a UU Church and that was it I never looked anywhere else ever again.

What brought you to KUUF in specific?

Nancy: Well I moved here 11 years ago, and I didn’t know anyone in town except my son. But I knew if I went to church, I’d soon meet new people. So, I started coming to church and I made up my mind that I would learn one name and so I did that for about six weeks or so and then I had some names. And after that I didn’t have to do that anymore. And I now have friends and some years later my son moved down to Tacoma and he said, “do you want to move down here with me?” And I said, “well, I don’t want to leave my friends here” and I had to decide between where he was and where I had a whole group of friends and I decided to stay here. He comes to see me on Saturdays.

Do you have a favorite memory of your life?

Nancy: My life? Oh gosh. I’m Ninety years old so it’s a long life. Well, one that comes to mind, a time when I was in my teens I’d been living in California with my mother, She put us on a train. Me and two of my sisters to go back east to my father. When we got there my dad was there with a Pony cart and he might as well had a brass band. It was such a welcome. We got off and there’s my dad with a big smile and the pony cart and we got in the cart and we drove home in the pony cart.

Why do you think you have lived to this age?

Nancy: Well, I’ve taken pretty good care of myself reasonably good and other than that just dumb luck.

What did you do for a career?

Nancy: I was a social worker. I got my degree when I was 40. Before that I was a secretary. I’ve been a secretary for a very long time, I’m a very good typist. And then I got my degree and I went to work as a social worker and I worked in Hospice mostly. 8 years I was there. A hospice social worker and other things too but the eight years was the main one.

What are now or have been some of your best talents or achievements?

Nancy: Well, I’m a very good listener. As a social worker that’s something you need to do and I just seem to naturally be able to do it. I’m Patient and uh- achievements- Well, getting my degree when I was forty years old took a while. Took me something like 11 years to get my degree because I did it little by little. That was a big achievement and then to go on and get my Master’s degree too. So, the day I graduated with my Master’s was a big celebration. Well, it wasn’t something I did really, I’m the oldest of a large family. I have six sisters so I’m the oldest of the bunch and I’ve been a good big sister. I have. I’ve taken that responsibility seriously. And I raised two children and they turned out okay.

What's the most surprising change in our country's history that has occurred in your lifetime?

Nancy: I think the most surprising one is that Women finally got some recognition, some appreciation, some opportunities. Being a woman is better now because there’s more opportunity.

What events or projects at KUUF do you like to take part in?

Nancy: Chalice circle. I’ve always been interested in the chalice circles since I first came. One time with Carolee I was organizing all the chalice circles. We spent a lot of time on that. Now I just belong to a chalice circle. That’s been the main thing that I’ve done beyond coming to church. I pretty much come every week. Unless I’m sick I’ll be here.

Who or what has had the biggest impact in your life?

Nancy: My father. Absolutely my father. My father was a wise man. And to this day every now and then I know that something comes up and I think of how he did handle it if it’s a recurring thing or would handle it. I appreciate his wisdom more the older I get. I’ve always been particularly fond of my father. But, of course he’s been gone for many years now. It seems like, as time goes on, I come to appreciate him more and more. So for one thing he’s the one got me reading. He threw books at me from a young age and He was always reading himself. He ran a bar which meant he was on his feet all the time. So when he wasn’t on his feet he was in a chair with his feet up reading. So I had that example and reading, of course, has been a great pleasure in my life.

What is one piece of knowledge would you consider indispensable?

Nancy: Be flexible. One must be flexible in this world. Not too flexible, but flexible enough because things change, bend but don’t break. That’s been a very important thing to do. I’ve lived a long life with many changes, many ups and downs, ins and outs, comings and goings and being flexible has been really helpful

KUUF Profiles: Nonagenarians - Sterling Fisher

Dear KUUF community,

It is with great sorrow that we share the passing of beloved KUUF member Sterling Fisher. Sterling made his transition November 24, 221 in the morning while at home with his family. He had been struggling with health complications for several months and just recently began to decline. He celebrated his 96th birthday in October and many of his friends at our fellowship got a chance to visit with him around that time. Sterling will be remembered for his masterful use of tech, well into his 90s, and for all of the photos and videos he took of KUUF services and events. Sterling’s family sends their love and gratitude to the KUUF community. Let us hold Evan and all of Sterling’s family in our hearts in the days ahead, particularly during this holiday season. 

Joey Witherspoon, KUUF Office Assistant interviewed KUUF’s four nonagenarians (people who are between 90-99 years old).

What brought you to KUUF?

Sterling: Well, Aside from my car- I guess probably the best answer is that it’s the only church in which I could be completely honest in talking with people.

So it wasn’t like you have to hold anything back and even if your opinion is different it isn’t shunned.

Sterling: Yeah. My religious beliefs well, they gradually turned more and more to the view that there is no god looking out for our best interests and we’re on our own for better or worse and I really appreciate a church in which I can say that without seeing shocked and horrified expressions and people trying to talk me out of it.

Do you have a favorite memory of your life?

Sterling: I guess I might not have a favorite memory. Let me know if this sounds too much like a copout- overall I’ve lived a happy life. So there’s no one memory that stands out. Basically I can think of many happy memories but not one that really stands out.

Why do you think you’ve lived to this age?

Sterling: I think I’ve lived to this age- I think my ancestors on both sides were pretty healthy. I think good luck has a lot to do with it too.  I guess it’s like a lot of people this way there are bad things in your life and if it got really bad that could have been the end of it but I’ve been fortunate.

What did you do for a career?

Sterling: I was an electronic engineer, specializing more in communications applications. I did that for a lot of my career. It followed from even when I was a young boy. I was interested in radio. I would tune into stations far away on the radio. Eventually, I got a Ham Radio license which I still have today. After I retired I was fortunate to get a job in the astronomy department at the University of Washington. I was working on side projects that the head of the department was interested in having worked on but didn’t have much of a budget for. So that was a lot of fun. After that, I got official authorization to be a substitute teacher in the local school system. I really looked forward to doing that because I was pretty good at tutoring math and science too to high school kids. But once I was an officially authorized substitute teacher I found that they put me frequently in classes where the teacher had been having a terrible time maintaining discipline where there were just wild kids there. I could keep the discipline but did I actually teach anything – no. I got my pay but I wasn’t desperate for it so that after a while, just out of disappointment in I was actually assigned to, I stopped doing it.

What are now or have been some of your best talents or achievements?

Sterling: Fortunately during my career as an electronic engineer, I was very good at that. So I got a lot of satisfaction from it and I was adequately paid. As I say I was fortunate it worked out that way. I think my favorite of the talents in two different ones, is being able to be empathic, so I tend to be very aware of the impact that people have on other people. One of my favorite conditions is that I feel so fortunate that I still have my mind at my age. I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel.

What is the most surprising change in our countries history that has occurred in your lifetime?

Sterling: Oh that is too easy. It’s the election of Trump and that’s in my whole lifetime.

What events or projects at KUUF do you like to take part in?

Sterling: I really enjoy taking part in the Social Justice Committee Meetings and events. During most of my life I’ve done very little that you can look at as social justice-related activities. I was very busy with my career and my family and that’s where all my efforts went, but now I have the time. I really enjoy trying to “Make a difference in the world.”

Who or what has had the biggest impact on your life?

Sterling: I’ve been fortunate that the early and continuing interest I had in electronics has led to a satisfying career and gave me enough income that basically the financial worries I had were small so I feel very fortunate about that.  

What one piece of knowledge would you consider indispensable?

Sterling: I think one of the things that’s been most useful to me is the zen approach to life and the world.

What do you mean by the zen approach?

Sterling: It’s that I do better if I don’t try to control the future. I can’t help but have strong feelings about

Crutcher’s been an inspiration for generations to come

Lennie Birrone’s father, Marty Crutcher, is the focus of a Kitsap Sun February column “Your Turn” in honor of Black History Month. Read the article here.  The columns and photos were submitted by Roosevelt Smith, a culture sensitivity trainer focusing on the African-American experience and collector of Black America. Smith will be hosting an exhibition at the Kitsap Historical Society Museum, 280 Fourth St. in Bremerton, beginning March 6.

While visiting with Marty Crutcher recently, I was introduced to his 8-year-old great-granddaughter, Layonna. She was full of energy and very inquisitive. So I asked her, “What do you want to be when you grow older?” She stated, “I want to be like my grandfather,” pointing to Mr. Crutcher.

She also stated that she will be going into the Navy, be a doctor, work at the airport, be a photographer, and a teacher. Mr. Crutcher hugged her and said, “that’s a lot of things to become, but knowing you, it will happen.” She smiled and walked into the kitchen to help her mom prepare dinner.

She also stated that she will be going into the Navy, be a doctor, work at the airport, be a photographer and a teacher. Mr. Crutcher hugged her and said, “that’s a lot of things to become, but knowing you, it will happen.” She smiled and walked into the kitchen to help her mom prepare dinner.

Mr. Shirley Marty Crutcher was born on a farm in 1934 and was birthed by a midwife in Madison County, Kentucky. There was only one black doctor that serviced Madison County as well as a part of Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Crutcher’s father was a tobacco farmer and his mom worked as a maid, cook, field worker, mother, and wife. The family worked the tobacco field; even Mr. Crutcher, at 4 years old, picked worms from the tobacco leaves.

In Madison County, as in Richmond, Jim Crow laws were strictly adhered to. The only place blacks and whites could be in the same building as groups would be the theater, with whites downstairs and blacks upstairs. There were occasions in which word would spread in the town of “a coon hunt,” which meant that whites were going to kill a black man that evening. The blacks would gather in certain houses or churches for protection. In order to show their power, white men would ride through the black area with guns drawn.

The Crutcher family moved to Richmond in 1939 for better employment opportunities and due to the deterioration of Marty’s mother’s health. She died at an early age from cancer, which also took the lives of many of his family members. In Richmond, Mr. Crutcher attended school. In the winter, he sold buckets of coal and in the summer, he sold ice remnants from the ice factory. He picked and sold berries, grew and sold watermelons. At the age of 11, he raised pigs for the family to be sold. He washed windows, cut grass, shined shoes and delivered papers.

From the age of 13 to 18, he worked in a pool hall, and as a drug store runner delivering prescriptions and performing janitorial duties. In 1952 he decided to leave Richmond and take a job at another drug store that promised better wages. The owner failed to pay him for 3 months. When young Mr. Crutcher demanded his wages, he was told by the boss, “I do not have to pay you, because you are a Negro.”

Mr. Crutcher was arrested for fighting and given a choice between going to jail or the military; he enlisted in the US. Navy in 1955 and was given a job as a steward. The military was integrated by President Truman in 1948 and many menial positions were only held by blacks. Mr. Crutcher attended College at night and advanced to become a submariner.

Mr. Crutcher retired as a Senior Chief from the Navy after 24 years. He worked in civil service with the Coast Guard and later at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard as a rigger and supervisor in the nuclear department. In 1986, he became the first of two African Americans (the other being Al Colvin) elected to the Bremerton City Council, where he chaired the parks and cable television commissions. The civic positions he held included 20 years PSNS Usher and President of Usher Council, Vice President of Sinclair Baptist Church Ushers, lifetime member of the NAACP, serving as vice president and chairman of the Legal and Housing Committee, Blacks in Government — Submariner Association, 50th Year Submariner Association, Community Action Program, and secretary of the Kitsap NABVETS. Currently, he leads a Bible study group at Sinclair Baptist Church.

Layonna can be like her grandfather and become all the things she wants to be because of the doors that were opened by Marty Crutcher. He overcame many injustices and is able to live his life without bitterness or hatred. He used love, hard work, determination, education and a strong belief in God to overcome all elements that stood in their way in search of the American Dream.

And as a final note to Layonna, your grandfather, Shirley Marty Crutcher, is a great American.

In honor of Black History month, the Kitsap Sun is running a column highlighting a notable black Kitsap County resident each Sunday in February, submitted by Roosevelt Smith, culture sensitivity trainer focusing on the African-American experience and collector of Black America. Smith will be hosting an exhibition at the Kitsap Historical Society Museum, 280 Fourth St. in Bremerton, beginning March 6.

Story and Photo by Roosevelt Smith, Bremerton

Read on Kitsap Sun

KUUF Profiles: Nonagenarians - Mel Dietz

Joey Witherspoon, KUUF Office Assistant interviewed KUUF’s four nonagenarians (people who are between 90-99 years old).

May 6 would have been Mel’s 95th birthday, but sadly, Maryellen Dietz passed in October of 2021. In honor of Mother’s Day, the family would like to share both the sorrow of her unexpected passing and celebrate the joy that was her amazing life. Her family misses her every day and they continue to find ways to soothe their loss with memories of her laughter, her insights, and her loving acceptance of us all. While they would love to honor her memory with an in-person memorial, family travel restrictions and the pandemic have thwarted their wishes. In lieu of a memorial service, they have established an online memorial page and encourage all who knew Mel to post memories and photos of your time together. They know she’s touched many lives and they’d love to hear your stories and have you read ours. You can find her Memorial Page https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/MaryellenJensenDietz/ . Thank you for the loving and supportive community you offered her for so many, many years. https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/MaryellenJensenDietz/

What brought you to KUUF?

Friends, I think. Friends who were already members or participants and they encouraged us to come.

Do you have a favorite memory of your life?

From my whole life? Oh, my goodness. All of college is a favorite memory.

Anything particularly stand out?

When I met my future husband. I met him at a dance at college

Why do you think you have lived to this age?

Well, I can’t be exact about that. But I would say to begin with that I have good genes. I have relatives, all three of them are women who had long lives. My father’s sister lived to be 100. I had two older sisters, one lived to be 96, and one 98, and I’m well on my way at 92.

Any other factors you think help contribute?

Good health. Certainly not always good habits, I was a smoker for many years, but I quit that out of necessity in 1983 and since then I’ve been in really good health.

What did you do for a career?

I was an elementary school music teacher in Bremerton for 31 years.  Prior to that, I taught music in several other locations and at different grade levels, but always as a vocal music teacher.

What are now or have been some of your best talents or achievements?

I was a successful music teacher if that counts. I also volunteered for 13 years after I retired from teaching. I volunteered as a CASA for the juvenile court system. A Court Appointed Special Advocate, assisting children who were wards of the court under the auspices of the juvenile court system. I enjoyed doing that and was successful in returning children to parents when it was appropriate and, unfortunately, when it was not appropriate to return them, we found future homes for those children with family or other situations. It was rewarding work and it was very time-consuming. I’m happy to have had that experience after I retired.

Did you work with CPS much?

CPS was part of the process all the time. CPS is assigned to these cases as a professional obligation. CASA’s are assigned to the cases to monitor the progress with CPS and to represent the child in court always.

What’s the most surprising change in our country’s history that has occurred in your lifetime?

Well, technology obviously is the most – I’m not sure it’s surprising to everybody – surprising to me in any regard.  It certainly is the thing that’s influenced our environment more than anything I can think of, and probably will for years to come. I don’t consider it all advantageous but there are certainly tremendous advantages to many parts of technology.

What events or projects at KUUF do you like to take part in?

Through the years I have been a member or participant since 1960. During that time I have worked (at KUUF) with children in the elementary grades.  Another friend and I taught the 5-year-olds in our oldest location. That was fun. It was a total experiment, we had no idea what we were doing. We had no curriculum we just created one as we went along.

As far as committees, I’ve enjoyed working on the membership committee; the welcoming committee; the Board; and I enjoyed last year’s participation on the 5-year planning committee. I’ve been on the nominating committee a few times and that’s been interesting. Coffee committee. I can’t say that anyone was a favorite or more successful than another one but they’ve all been interesting and have certainly helped to acquaint me with other members of the fellowship that I may not have known otherwise.

Who or what has had the biggest impact on your life?

Oh, I think without a doubt, family. And family on a very personal level, and the fact that I had the advantage of a good education. I was never saddled with any debt, any college debt–that was unheard of in my day. My parents were very generous both in way of providing an education, insisting on advanced degrees, and they assisted my husband in the completion of his doctorate.

What one piece of knowledge would you consider indispensable?

I think the one piece of knowledge that I’ve used most often would be some version of the Golden Rule–“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”   That’s how I learned it originally.  It sounds less “stuffy” simply to say “treat others as you would like to be treated.”   I’m sure there are other “pieces” that are equally important but this is the first I remember being taught and have let it be a guiding principle always.

May 6 would have been Mel’s 95th birthday, but sadly, Maryellen Dietz passed in October of 2021. In honor of Mother’s Day, the family would like to share both the sorrow of her unexpected passing and celebrate the joy that was her amazing life. Her family misses her every day and they continue to find ways to soothe their loss with memories of her laughter, her insights, and her loving acceptance of us all. While they would love to honor her memory with an in-person memorial, family travel restrictions and the pandemic have thwarted their wishes. In lieu of a memorial service, they have established an online memorial page and encourage all who knew Mel to post memories and photos of your time together. They know she’s touched many lives and they’d love to hear your stories and have you read ours. You can find her Memorial Page https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/MaryellenJensenDietz/ . Thank you for the loving and supportive community you offered her for so many, many years. https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/MaryellenJensenDietz/