FOOTLOOSE, FANCY FREE AND FUN
WAYE AND CLARA BEST WEDDING, APRIL 2, 1942.
Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive
— HAROLD ARLEN & JOHNNY MERCER, 1944
Wayne Best is clear about who is to blame for a union that spanned 71 years. “It was all Clara’s fault that we met!” he said.
Holding hands as they sat close to each other, they recalled their first date on July 4, 1941. Clara had been invited to accompany friends to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for the Independence Day festivities; however, her boyfriend had to work. Wayne grinned. “But I was footloose and fancy free.”
With her boyfriend’s okay, she joined Wayne and their mutual friends. “We drove to Coeur d’Alene and got hamburgers and milkshakes and sat on the curb,” said Clara, describing their al fresco meal. Wayne was so impressed by the brunette beauty that he immediately tried to make plans to see her again. Clara was a popular girl, but Wayne was undeterred by her elusiveness, and he persisted. Clara nudged his shoulder with hers. “He asked me out three times before I was available.”
After that Wayne made sure to secure another date with her before he took her home. In fact, he kept her so busy Clara said, “I finally had to break up with my boyfriend.”
Wayne had served a four-year boilermaker apprenticeship at a welding company when the pair met. “Every now and then the soot would flare up around you—in those days they didn’t have a lot of what you’d call safety measures,” Wayne said. “I gave up being a boilermaker and became a combination welder.”
Clara’s work wasn’t quite as dangerous. “I had a job taking care of two boys from a wealthy family,” she said. “I learned how to ride a bike and roller skate with those boys.”
When asked how they became engaged, Wayne replied, “Well, I had to wait quite awhile for her to ask me.” Clara shook her head and laughed, but they agreed that the engagement occurred in December 1941. Before the couple set a wedding date, they had an obstacle to overcome. “She was Catholic and I was Protestant,” said Wayne. “We agreed that I would take lessons and we’d be married in the Catholic Church.”
On December 6, Wayne and his brother took a bus to Seattle to watch the Washington State University vs. Texas A&M game in Tacoma. After the game, his brother returned home, but Wayne remained and went out on the town with a friend. “We slept in the next morning and when we finally went out, they said, ‘Did you hear what happened? Pearl Harbor was bombed!”
Instead of returning home, Wayne took a job at a shipyard on Harbor Island. He looked up the nearest Catholic Church and met with the priest to continue his instruction. “We visited and the priest said, ‘I think you’ve gone far enough. I wouldn’t have any problem marrying you.’”
Clara interjected, “Then they talked about sports!”
Wayne bought his fiancée a $26 airline ticket so she could fly to Seattle and make the wedding arrangements. “I didn’t want her to spend the night on bus or train,” he said.
The couple married in the parish parlor on April 26, 1942. One wedding photo in particular captures their sense of fun, showing Clara holding a chain that’s wrapped around Wayne’s waist. “I guess somebody figured she needed a little help,” said Wayne.
Their honeymoon was rather unconventional, as well. After their wedding night in a Seattle hotel, Clara and her bridal party set off for Canada. “The girls had never been to British Columbia,” she explained “We stayed two or three days.”
Meanwhile, the draft board had lost track of Wayne. “I didn’t file a change of address, when I moved,” he explained. “When they caught up with me, it was no more deferments even though I worked in the shipyards.” He shrugged. “I just figured it was meant to be.” So he reported to Ft. Lewis and was sent to Louisiana for basic training.
Clara, newly pregnant, returned to Spokane to live with her family. She admitted the separation was wrenching. “It was hard to take, but it was work that had to be done.”
And it was hard work. “I was assigned to the Third Armored Signal Battalion,” said Wayne. “I was the head of the wire team that laid telephone lines. I made staff sergeant in a year and a half.” Before he was sent overseas he learned he had a son, Gordon Wayne, born May 23, 1943. “I got to come home on leave that summer,” Wayne said. His son would be three before he saw him again.
After a short stint in Hawaii, Wayne boarded a ship and set sail for Okinawa. “I got to see a very big portion of the Pacific Ocean, as we were at sea for six weeks.” He joined his company every morning for shipboard exercises, and when he went ashore with a full field pack and three days of rations, he appreciated those workouts at sea.
WAYNE BEST, 1943.
Wayne said, “We followed a lot of fighting as we went up the island. The Japanese were still strafing Kadena.” Yet he didn’t lose any of his wire team. “We lucked out,” he said. “The other part of the company lost a couple guys.” He grew quiet and glanced out his living room window. “Some parts you don’t remember—some parts will be in your mind forever.”
Not all memories are painful. “We had the job of cleaning up areas in Okinawa,” Wayne said. “We found all these bottles of what was supposed to be Philippine rum.” He laughed. “We traded some of those bottles to the kitchen for cans of Spam.” However, his photos show the fellows kept at least a couple of them for their own consumption!
When the Japanese surrendered, his battalion was sent to Korea. While at sea they were hit by a typhoon—an experience Wayne never wants to endure again.
Six months later, in December 1945, he received his discharge. “They offered me a deal to stay in, but I said no.” He glanced at Clara. “I had somebody to come home to.” He made it home in time for Christmas, and within weeks found a job at American Machine Works where he worked until he retired in 1980.
Clara stayed home with Gordon until he was a senior in high school. She then took a job at Old National Bank, starting out as a teller and ending up assistant manager. When she retired after 22 years, she still remembered the name of every person who walked through the doors of her branch.
The couple lived in the home they purchased in 1950 until they moved to a retirement community a few years ago. Reflecting on the longevity of their jobs, home, and marriage, Wayne said, “We’ve never been in a hurry to move around.”
WAYNE BEST, RIGHT, HAWAII, 1945.
Upon his retirement, Clara bought him a set of golf clubs. “Well, he had to have something to do!” However, she had no desire to “hit that little ball around.” That changed when she retired. At 62, she took up golf and found she loved it. For 17 years the couple traveled to Hawaii for golfing vacations, and maintained an active social life.
In June 2011 Wayne and his son took an Honor Flight to Washington, DC, to visit the World War II Memorial. “It was a pleasant trip due to the fact that I had my son taking care of me.” But then he paused and his eyes filled with tears as he described the Memorial. “Sitting there looking at all the gold stars, made me think of what they’ve done… .”
WAYNE BEST, BACK ROW MIDDLE, THE DAY THE GUYS FOUND “PHILIPPINE RUM.”
Brushing off the fact that he, too, did his part for his country, Wayne was happier to talk about his wife. When asked what made their marriage work for seven decades, he said, “It makes it awfully difficult if you have to keep your head down to the grindstone.” Then he smiled at Clara, “We weren’t afraid to make time for a little fun.”
STAFF SGT. WAYNE BEST 1945.
WAYNE AND CLARA BEST, 2011.
Wayne Best died February 18, 2013
Clara Best died May 21, 2013