Howard “Pappy” Young

Howard "Pappy" Young
In memory of…

Howard "Pappy" Young

September 15, 1907 -June 22, 2005 TAPS
In memory of Howard L. "Pappy" Young

Pappy was born in the small Washington State town of Rockford on September 15, 1907 to Ida M. Buster and Coey A. Young. The family, which included in addition to Pappy a daughter Effie and another son named Harold, moved from Rockford to Spokane when Pappy was still a baby. Pappy resided in Spokane until he was called to active duty from the Marine Corps Reserves in 1940.

In 1929 Pappy was the winner of a contest that offered the prize of marriage while airborne in a biplane. He promptly called his sweetheart, Betty M. Scotten, who lived in Seattle. He proposed and she accepted. Their airborne nuptials were the start of a marriage that lasted 69 years. Their children, Beverley (Mickey) and Neil (Skip) were born in 1931 and 1933 respectively. Before being called to active duty, Pappy worked at three different jobs to support his family. He sold vacuum cleaners door to door. He was a projectionist in a local theater, and he operated an elevator in a professional building. He learned the meat cutting business in the late '30's and also worked one summer in Montana for the Forestry Service. Pappy joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 1938 and attended a summer training camp in 1939.

In 1940 Pappy opened a butcher shop in a large grocery store. Within a few weeks of that opening he was called to active duty and had to close the shop. His family moved in with his parents and Pappy reported to Camp Elliot as a radio technician. His duties were changed to working in the mess hall when they discovered his knowledge of meat cutting.

In 1942 Camp Pendleton was opening and Pappy was sent there to set up the first mess hall. When it came time to make the ceremonial opening march of Marines from Camp Elliot to Camp Pendleton, Pappy had to return to Camp Elliot to participate in the march. He loved to tell the story of that trip and how they fed the troops.

1929 Travelaire airplane like the one Pappy and Betty were married in.

During WW II Pappy saw duty on Guadalcanal, New Zealand, and was with the Fifth Marine Division on Iwo Jima. Pappy proudly told of witnessing the historic flag raising on Mt. Surabachi. After Iwo Jima was secured and Japan surrendered, he went to Kyushu, Japan as part of the occupation force.

Upon returning from Japan, Pappy was stationed at MCRD, San Diego. He used his GI Bill to take flying lessons, went on to become a certified flight instructor, and taught many of his friends how to fly. In 1949 he was transferred to Parris Island, SC, and later went to Camp Lejeune, NC. While in North Carolina he applied for a change of MOS and was sent to Olathe, KS for training as an Air Traffic Controller. After graduation he was assigned to El Toro, CA and later transferred to duty in Korea.

Pappy retired from the Marines at MCAS Beaufort, SC and he and Betty moved to Oceanside, California where he worked for several years as a meat cutter at the Commissary at Camp Pendleton. During this time he and Betty bought their home in Oceanside where they lived the rest of their lives. At this time Mickey was living on Camp Pendleton with 2 children. Skip was at El Toro.

In retirement Pappy and Betty were active in the Oceanside Carlsbad Coin Club. He had a Plexiglas business where he manufactured hundreds of coin holders and custom items for coin collectors. They traveled to Hawaii, Hong Kong, Japan and several other countries with their coin collector friends, attending coin shows. He became active in the Marine Air Traffic Control Association (MATCA), attending reunions across the country. Betty traveled with him until she became ill. She passed away in 1998.

Pappy loved to paint landscape scenes and collected old greeting cards. He would share his paintings and cards by scanning them and sending them out to friends on the Internet. He made copies of his mother?s old post card type greeting cards.

He loved all kinds of electronics and had half a dozen computers and related equipment, always keeping up with the latest advancements. He kept up constant e-mail communications with his family, friends and the MATCA group.

Semper Fi Pappy