thedrifter
09-15-04, 06:39 AM
Keeping cool with some warm memories
Libby Corathers doesn't have air conditioning, and she admittedly doesn't really need it. Her Corona del Mar home is only 100 feet from a bluff overlooking the Pacific, and the breezes help her keep cool year round.
Besides, she's been through worse weather.
Born and raised in Wooster, Ohio, and the widow of a Marine pilot who served in Indonesia, Korea and Guam, Corathers has seen her share of heat, humidity, monsoons and tropical storms. For the past 36 years, though, she's enjoyed modest temperatures in her cozy house on Narcissus Avenue.
The house still showcases novelties that remind her of her travels — Bali tribal carvings, handmade Sumatran wood houses and, of course, breathtaking art of the rocky Corona del Mar shoreline.
Corathers sat down with the Daily Pilot's Jeff Benson to talk about life in Ohio and around the globe during World War II.
Where did you grow up?
I lived in Ohio for 23 years, until I got married. I went to Wooster College, a Presbyterian school where I was an English history major. I worked my way through college at the local library. I loved my work and decided I was going to be an old-maid librarian.
One day, I went in for an interview, and there were two of us who were up for the job. The other girl was single, and I was married, so they said she needed the work more than I did. That's the way they did it in those days, and I didn't get the job I wanted.
Where did you end up working?
I didn't do anything until I came here. I was living on my husband's salary because he was always employed as a Marine Corps pilot.
When I came to Corona del Mar, I decided I'd like to work. Before, I just moved around from one base to another.
Instead, I worked as a bookkeeper for a clinical psychologist in Corona del Mar for 17 years. I put her checks in the bank and did things for her at her home while she was gone. And several years ago, I worked at the Sea Urchin, which sold seashells in Corona del Mar. But we had a recession a few years back, and the store went out of business.
Describe your husband. How did you meet him?
When I was in Wooster, other servicemen were shipped out of town and a battalion of Marines took their place in the college dormitories. I was in the USO at the time, and we established a cantina downstairs. We also planned activities in the college gymnasium, and that's where I met my husband, John Kenneth, on New Year's Eve, 1944.
We knew we were made for each other. We got married on Christmas Day, 1945, in the Lutheran church where I was raised. He got a 10-day leave, and we took advantage of it. We were married 56-and-a-half years until he died on the Fourth of July in 2002, like a true Marine.
What did he do while he was in the military?
He never wanted to be a commissioned pilot in the Marine Corps. He wanted to be a warrant officer because his mentor was a warrant officer. But he was stationed in Hawaii and he flew. He was an instrument-rated pilot, so he could fly in all kinds of weather.
Most of the pilots in Hawaii were sent to Berlin to get people out of the city during the Berlin Airlift. My husband was in the squadron sent to Barber's Point, Oahu, since so many others had gone off to Berlin. He went on to Travis Air Force Base, Guam and Japan and then spent five months in Korea. Our two children and I went back to Ohio to live while he was in Korea, and while he was there he was put in embassy duty as a pilot for the ambassador.
Some time later he asked, "Would you like to go to Indonesia with me?" I thought for a second, then said, "Sure." We were there for two years and picked up a lot of the language.
What did you think of the experience?
It was all fascinating. I'm glad we got to go. This morning, there was an explosion at the Australian embassy that killed some people. When we were there, they were just building the new U.S. embassy. We never thought anything of the dangers in Jakarta. It was just another place to go. They were just weaning themselves away from Dutch rule when we were there.
What happened when you returned from overseas?
Well, John Wayne was always one of my husband's favorite people. While he was stationed at El Toro, he flew John Wayne and some camera crews around during the filming of "The Flying Leathernecks" and got some pictures taken with them. They worked a lot together.
I was up at Fashion Island by myself one day, years ago, and got John Wayne's autograph. I didn't want to ask if he remembered my husband or not because I was too embarrassed to say anything. I'm sure he's worked in a ton of movies.
What are you up to now?
I am just so fond of the Oasis Senior Center. My husband and I joined in 1972, when it first came to town. We were some of the early birds. We went to some of the dances, and after he died, I went to even more.
Now I'm in this walkers group and about five or six of us get out and hike for a couple hours each week. It's more fun when you hike in a group. I still do a lot of baby-sitting, too.
I still try to keep active at the Community Church of Corona del Mar, getting people to donate flowers for our altar. Brides used to come from miles around to be married there.
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/pilot/features/la-dpt-boomers11sep11,1,2115894.story
Ellie
Libby Corathers doesn't have air conditioning, and she admittedly doesn't really need it. Her Corona del Mar home is only 100 feet from a bluff overlooking the Pacific, and the breezes help her keep cool year round.
Besides, she's been through worse weather.
Born and raised in Wooster, Ohio, and the widow of a Marine pilot who served in Indonesia, Korea and Guam, Corathers has seen her share of heat, humidity, monsoons and tropical storms. For the past 36 years, though, she's enjoyed modest temperatures in her cozy house on Narcissus Avenue.
The house still showcases novelties that remind her of her travels — Bali tribal carvings, handmade Sumatran wood houses and, of course, breathtaking art of the rocky Corona del Mar shoreline.
Corathers sat down with the Daily Pilot's Jeff Benson to talk about life in Ohio and around the globe during World War II.
Where did you grow up?
I lived in Ohio for 23 years, until I got married. I went to Wooster College, a Presbyterian school where I was an English history major. I worked my way through college at the local library. I loved my work and decided I was going to be an old-maid librarian.
One day, I went in for an interview, and there were two of us who were up for the job. The other girl was single, and I was married, so they said she needed the work more than I did. That's the way they did it in those days, and I didn't get the job I wanted.
Where did you end up working?
I didn't do anything until I came here. I was living on my husband's salary because he was always employed as a Marine Corps pilot.
When I came to Corona del Mar, I decided I'd like to work. Before, I just moved around from one base to another.
Instead, I worked as a bookkeeper for a clinical psychologist in Corona del Mar for 17 years. I put her checks in the bank and did things for her at her home while she was gone. And several years ago, I worked at the Sea Urchin, which sold seashells in Corona del Mar. But we had a recession a few years back, and the store went out of business.
Describe your husband. How did you meet him?
When I was in Wooster, other servicemen were shipped out of town and a battalion of Marines took their place in the college dormitories. I was in the USO at the time, and we established a cantina downstairs. We also planned activities in the college gymnasium, and that's where I met my husband, John Kenneth, on New Year's Eve, 1944.
We knew we were made for each other. We got married on Christmas Day, 1945, in the Lutheran church where I was raised. He got a 10-day leave, and we took advantage of it. We were married 56-and-a-half years until he died on the Fourth of July in 2002, like a true Marine.
What did he do while he was in the military?
He never wanted to be a commissioned pilot in the Marine Corps. He wanted to be a warrant officer because his mentor was a warrant officer. But he was stationed in Hawaii and he flew. He was an instrument-rated pilot, so he could fly in all kinds of weather.
Most of the pilots in Hawaii were sent to Berlin to get people out of the city during the Berlin Airlift. My husband was in the squadron sent to Barber's Point, Oahu, since so many others had gone off to Berlin. He went on to Travis Air Force Base, Guam and Japan and then spent five months in Korea. Our two children and I went back to Ohio to live while he was in Korea, and while he was there he was put in embassy duty as a pilot for the ambassador.
Some time later he asked, "Would you like to go to Indonesia with me?" I thought for a second, then said, "Sure." We were there for two years and picked up a lot of the language.
What did you think of the experience?
It was all fascinating. I'm glad we got to go. This morning, there was an explosion at the Australian embassy that killed some people. When we were there, they were just building the new U.S. embassy. We never thought anything of the dangers in Jakarta. It was just another place to go. They were just weaning themselves away from Dutch rule when we were there.
What happened when you returned from overseas?
Well, John Wayne was always one of my husband's favorite people. While he was stationed at El Toro, he flew John Wayne and some camera crews around during the filming of "The Flying Leathernecks" and got some pictures taken with them. They worked a lot together.
I was up at Fashion Island by myself one day, years ago, and got John Wayne's autograph. I didn't want to ask if he remembered my husband or not because I was too embarrassed to say anything. I'm sure he's worked in a ton of movies.
What are you up to now?
I am just so fond of the Oasis Senior Center. My husband and I joined in 1972, when it first came to town. We were some of the early birds. We went to some of the dances, and after he died, I went to even more.
Now I'm in this walkers group and about five or six of us get out and hike for a couple hours each week. It's more fun when you hike in a group. I still do a lot of baby-sitting, too.
I still try to keep active at the Community Church of Corona del Mar, getting people to donate flowers for our altar. Brides used to come from miles around to be married there.
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/pilot/features/la-dpt-boomers11sep11,1,2115894.story
Ellie