Vern Garvin, KURY Radio founder, spent his life serving the community

Vern Garvin, and his wife Dorothy learn they have been selected grand marshals for the 2004 Azalea Festival. Pilot file photo

A true home-town pioneer citizen, born March 17, 1931, in Gold Beach, Vern spent his life using his special electronic skills to improve communication availability throughout Curry County.

Following his graduation from Oregon Technical Institute (OTI) in 1957 he interviewed in Silicon Valley, but turned down the five or six job offers, choosing instead to return to Curry County where he and his bride, the former Dorothy Rowley, opened a small shop on Railroad Street.

The couple was married June 23, 1956, while both were students at OTI, both receiving associate’s degrees, Vern in electronics and Dorothy in accounting.

The story has been told that Vern, who started logging following his graduation from Brookings Harbor High School in 1949, preferred working in the woods. However, when he returned to Brookings following two years in the U.S. Army and began courting Dorothy, her mother, school teacher Una Rowley, told him that if he wanted to marry her daughter he was going to have to have more education.

That technical education prepared him for his career that included bringing two-way radio communications, wider radio access, and improved cable television reception to Curry County.

After considerable engineering study, Vern chose Bosley Butte as the place from which to provide the radio coverage. His first permit for construction of a common carrier radio station was granted Jan. 13, 1961.

Lumber to build housing for the equipment, a 40-foot pipe tower, and an Army surplus gas battery charger that ran on propane were hauled up the narrow, steep and very rocky trail to Bosley Butte in 1962.

Vern later had towers constructed on Signal Butte in 1966 and Edison Butte in 1971.

He earned his pilot’s license in 1958 and flew the Brookings Flying Club plane to areas such as Agnes to fix radios or into logging sites to repair “talkie tooter” systems for loggers.

Driving to maintain the repeater sites in those remote locations was challenging, and Vern started talking about a helicopter. After a particularly difficult hike through the snow at Bosley Butte, he convinced Dorothy of his need, and in 1967 he purchased a Bell G47 helicopter, and their backyard is still registered on aeronautical charts as a heliport. In 1958 Vern began his long association with KURY Radio as the chief engineer. He and his partner, Norm Oberst, formed the corporation, KURY Radio Inc., and purchased the radio station.

In 1964, to improve reception and distance covered, Vern made history when he moved the 284-foot radio tower by helicopter from Oceanview Drive to property in the Dawson Tract.

In 1981 KURY Radio was granted a license to bring FM broadcasting to Brookings and, in 1972, the Garvins expanded into cable television with a franchise to operate under the name Skyline Cable, Inc.

All three of the Garvin children , Lee Eric, born Feb. 8, 1959; Roy Arthur, born May 5, 1960; and Ruth Irene, born July 4, 1962, worked with their parents during their growing-up years. The boys learned to climb poles, string cable lines and provide efficient customer service, while daughter Ruth worked in the office and on the switchboard.

Over the years Vern received many accolades for his service to the community. Vern and Dorothy, accompanied by his brother Glenn, were honored as the Pioneer Citizens for the 2007 Azalea Festival.

Vern was a life member of the Sydney Croft Masonic Lodge 206, and served as master in 1965, he was also District deputy and was elected grand master for the State of Oregon in 1985.

In 1989 Vern and Dorothy instituted the Garvin Masonic Scholarship Award, a four-year scholarship which is presented each year to a deserving Brookings Harbor High School graduate who plans to attend an Oregon University.

Vern was also an active supporter of the Chetco Valley Historical Museum and many of his early communication devices are on display at the museum.

Vern Robert Garvin left a legacy of making life more enjoyable for others.