The Eller Chronicles

    Denver L. Eller, 89, formerly of 315 Riffle Ave., Greenville, died at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at the Brethren's Home Medical Center. He had been in failing health.
    Mr. Eller was born Aug. 29, 1903, in Darke County, son of OrVal David and Susie (Smith) Eller. Also deceased are one brother, Eldred "Ed" Eller, and a sister, Ariene Azora Vogt.
    A Greenville area native, he moved to the Brethren's Home in 1987. For 61 years, he was a well known barber who started his first shop in 1925 in what was known as the Maher Building. In 1933,, he joined the Jake Sherer Shop and managed it for several years, and, in 1946, he purchased what was known as the Hufnagle Barber Shop and ran it until the building was sold to the restaurant next door for an expansion. Mr. Eller their worked for the Fifth Street Barber Shop until opening his own shop (business) in his home in 1963, known as Denver's Barber Shop, from which he retired in December 1986.

He was a member of the Evangelical United Methodist Church of Greenville and the Greenville Elks for more than 45 years.
    Surviving are his wife, Mary Edith (Cochran), to. whom he was married May 30, 1928; two sons, James L. of Daytona Beach, Fla., and Richard "Dick" of Colorado Springs, Colo.; two daughters, Charlotte Hibbs of Clearwater, Fla., and Charlene Bulcher of Greenville; nine grandchildren; and 10 great-great-grandchildren.
    Graveside services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Greenville Union Cemetery, with the Rev. Michael Hodson, Brethren's Home chaplain, officiating.
    Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Zechar Bailey Funeral Home, Greenville. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cancer Society.

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ROBBINSVILLE - Ruth Rogers Crisp, 70, of Route 1, died Thursday, Oct. 14, in a local hospital after a brief illness.
    A native of Graham County, she retired from Mohican Textile Mills. in Lincolnton. She was the daughter of the late George and Iva Lee Eller Rogers and was married to the late John Henry Crisp.
    She is survived by two sons, Leon Crisp of Lincolnton and Ronnie Crisp of Robbinsville; brother, Arnold Rogers of Robbinsville; four sisters, Bernice Pearson of Maryville, Tenn., and Georgia Smith, Alma Crisp and Edna Hooper, all of Robbinsville; and seven grandchildren.
    Services will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Townson-Smith Funeral Home. The Revs. Henry Etheridge and Daniel Stewart will officiate. Burial will be in Old Mother Cemetery.
    The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

MORGANTON - Harold Clinton Eller Jr., 31, of 205 Evans St., died unexpectedly Thursday, Oct. 21, at his home.
    A native of Spokane, Wash., he was the son of Harold Clinton Eller Sr. and Glenda Erwin Eller.
    In addition to his parents he is survived by brother, James D. Eller of Morganton; and paternal grandmother, Ila Eller of swannanoa.
    Private memorial services will be at a later date.
    Kirksey Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

    Christena Matilda Eller, 89, of Port Orchard died Tuesday at Harrison Memorial Hospital.
    She was born June 15, 1904, in Waterville, Minn. where she was raised. She moved to Kitsap County in 1942.
    In 1921 she manied Geoxge Dickinson in Waterville. Mr. Dickenson died in 1934.
    She married Clifford Powell in 1936 The couple were later divorced.
    In 1953 she married Harvey Eller in Bremerton. Mr. Eller died in 1975.
    Mrs. Eller moved from Bremerton to Vancouver, Clark County, in 1985. She returned to Bremerton in 1989.
    She enjoyed embroidery, crocheting and gardening.

    Survivors include two sons, Howard Dickinson of Port Orchard, and George Dickenson of Bremerton; a daughter, Luella Stehman of port Orchard; two stepdaughters, Sandra Hobson of Raymond, Pacific county, and Linda Reynolds of Port Orchard; a sister, Emma Graper off Waseca, Minn; five grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren. A son, Walter Dickinson, died in 1983.
    Graveside services were 1 P.M today at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
    Memorials may be made to American Cancer Society, c/o chairman, P.O. Box 4258 Wycoff Station, Bremerton 98312

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in the spring of 1941.
    �Admiral Eller was involved in a variety of other duties to aid the Navy's preparations. He then served an gunnery officer of the old aircraft carrier Saratoga that was often a target for torpedoes during the early part of the war. Eller provides a dramatic description of being at dinner when the first torpedo hit in January 1942.
    Eller was both eyewitness and participant In a great deal of the planning and execution of the South Pacific and Central Pacific offensives that took the war to Japan. Again, his wartime notes --- written at the time to record lessons learned and problems to be solved --- are valuable in describing his observations.
    "Besides operating with Admiral Nimitz in Hawaii. he made several trips to the forward areas to see battle conditions firsthand."
    Eller advanced to captain of the USS Clay that transported occupation troops to Japan.
    �Then soon he was back in the United States to deal with unhappily a new, 'enemy.' the nation's news media. He was a public information officer on the West Coast and later in Washington, D.C.. with the temporary rank of commodore.

    It was a dramatic time to be in the job, especially as the country's armed services were engaged in battles for supremacy under the banner of unification. Admiral Eller provides descriptions of a number of the most prominent newsmen of the day, including Drew Pearson.�
    The interviews that truly make history and life in the Navy through times of peace and war were conducted by Dr. John T. Mason, former director of oral history for the Naval Institute. Admiral Eller did a substantial amount of editing and rewriting himself. A copy of the original version of the transcript is on file at the Naval institute.
    The third volume that is forthcoming gives Admiral Eller's many contributions that he made to the preservation and study of the history of the United States Navy. One :can read and feel his words come alive.
    Not only is Admiral Eller known for his being a naval historian. and an a naval officer. but he is also known as a writer of religious material and a poet.

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This job description contemplates that the reader has already read and understood the job description of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. With that in mind, then the following outline will detail the functions of the Vice Chairman.

1. Keeping the Chairman on his toes. While the By-Laws do not specifically state that the Vice Chairman will be elevated to Chairman at the expiration or discharge of the Chairman,, the most important function of the Vice Chairman will be to work toward being elevated to the office of Chairman.
   
   
2. The Vice Chairman should be always alert to any new activities that would benefit the Association and should bring them up at meetings without any prior discussion with any of the other Board members particularly the Chairman. This may embarrass the Chairman somewhat, but again it is just keeping the Chairman on his toes.
   
   
3. Discuss any topics with the Chairman prior to any Board meetings, but always be vague in making any specific suggestions to the Chairman. Then at the Board meeting offer as many alternatives as possible so the other members can analyze and clearly weigh their decisions before voting on an issue; that is, the Vice Chairman should take credit for all the discussion leading up to a particular issue being passed or defeated.
   
   
4. Keep in contact with all other Board members and discuss any projects that would be helpful to the Association and then bring them up at the Board meeting prior to discussing them with the Chairman so the Chairman can "strut his stuff" in an extemporaneous manner. The Vice Chairman should be adversarial just enough to provoke the Chairman to the point of creating good dialogue among all the Board members.
   
   
5. When a critical issue is before the Board, and if the number of Board members in attendance is an odd number, and it is obvious that there is going to be a tie vote, it is most important that the Vice Chairman vote opposite to the way the Chairman will vote because to do otherwise would indicate a conspiracy among the Chairman and the Vice Chairman and the other Board members would get the feeling that they were simply puppets on the Board.
   
   
6. When controversial issues are on the agenda, particularly if they had been put on there by the Chairman of the Board, it should be the duty of the Vice Chairman to work individually with other Board members privately to have one Board member make a motion and another to second that motion in accordance with the wishes of the Vice Chairman and these two Board members and to request the Chairman to call a vote on the motion so it can be passed according to the wishes of the Vice Chairman quickly.
   
   
7. On all items on the agenda prepared by the Chairman the Vice Chairman should be prepared to create enough controversial dialogue among the other members to have enough discussion, perhaps loud and violent if necessary, to cause the Chairman to call a vote quickly in order to move on with the meeting.
   
   
8. It is likely that the Officers of Association will be present at all the Board meetings and certainly the Secretary of the Board, being common to both the Officers and the Board, will be present. It should be made clear to the Officers by the Vice Chairman that they feel free and comfortable to work with the Vice Chairman on an individual basis so the Vice Chairman can be in direct contact with the other members of the Board for their assistance in helping the officers of the Association implement policy established by the Board. This will take some pressure off the Chairman but then it will give the Vice Chairman an opportunity to be better prepared for the Office of Chairman when he/she ascends to that Office.
   
   
9. The Vice Chairman should preside at the annual meeting on behalf of the Board giving all the credit to the Chairman (because the members should believe this) but the members should be well acquainted with the Vice Chairman because if the Board members have been talking to their individual constitute friends they will have informed all the members about the active roll of the Vice Chairman during the period preceding the annual meeting.
   
   
10. Finally, when group pictures are taken the Vice Chairman should make it a point to always appear in the center of the picture, suggesting that the Chairman appear on either end of the group photo. This will assure that the Chairman's name is either mentioned first or last depending on whether the caption is left to right or vice versa but the focus is always on the center of the picture which will be the Vice Chairman.

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