Kenton D. Breidenthal

Kenton D. Breidenthal, 82, of Applegate, died Thursday, January 17, 2008 at Three Rivers Community Hospital.

A funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m., Friday, February 1, 2008 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Stake Center on Williams Highway and Harbeck Road. Hull & Hull Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements.

Condolences may be made to the family at www.since1928hull.com.

He was born in Albany, Gentry County, Missouri and graduated from Vinton High School, in Vinton, Iowa. When World War II broke out, Kenton enlisted in the United States Air Force. He was assigned to the Western Pacific Air Combat that flew over Japan. While he was in the 20th Air Force, 331st Bomb Group – 357 Bomb Squad, he flew B29’s and was the Sperry Ball Gunner. He received the Distinguished Unit Badge, American Theater Ribbon, APT Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, and the Victory Ribbon and achieved the rank of Corporal. He received his honorable discharge on March 30, 1946.

He attended the Art Center in Pasadena, California and learned the joy of many types of art. His artistic abilities got him a job as the Senior Photographer for Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California. He delighted in taking pictures of test aircraft as he lay on the runway looking up, tying himself to the inside of the plane and dangling out of the door with one foot (camera in hand) as he fought the wind, just to take action shots of test planes.

He was working as the manager of Finley Art Studio when he injured his back and had to take a few years recuperation. (He had been riding his horse on the weekend. The horse got scared and threw Kenton. Both of them fell on the railroad tracks – horse on top.) When he healed, he decided to go into law enforcement and was later hired by the City of Long Beach as a Harbor Patrolman. He loved the job more than any other, but age forced him to retire in October of 1989. He then moved to the Applegate with his second wife, Patricia, and bought a small herd of 10 to 12 goats and became a goat herder. He loved animals more than humans and so this seemed like a great profession. It was OK for a while, but soon his memories of the Harbor Patrol came back and he then joined the Volunteer Sheriff’s Department and Oregon State Police. He loved his volunteer work until his health forced him to quit. Deep inside, he always knew that he would one day be well enough to start volunteering again.

He loved to play the trumpet, and was often banished to the garage to play it to the big band sounds of his stereo (turned on full-blast) as he recalled memories of what it was like to play at a roadhouse with Tommy Dorsey.

He started painting when he was a small child and continued doing it his whole life. Two days before he went to the hospital with his illness, he was taking painting lessons. You might say that he painted until the day he died. His oil paintings are coveted by his family and friends. They are one of his greatest treasures.

He survived his first son, Craig, and his first wife, Mary Jean Countermine and is survived by four sons, Scott, Mark, Doug, and Mike and his current Wife, Patricia, 8 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He was 82 years young and will always be cherished by those he left behind.