2024 Journey Magazine

THE DOG TAG

Underneath gravel, dirt, and the dust of time, it was there. Chris Moore wasn’t necessarily looking for it. But it was there. And it had meaning, purpose, and a story worth telling. It had value.

Moore, a retired attorney and accountant, and now president of the Lewis-Clark State College Foundation board, was walking to his vehicle when something caught his eye. It glimmered just enough to be noticed. Moore reached down, picked it up, dusted it off, and there it was – the World War II dog tag of Robert Loeffelbein.

One might be surprised to find something of such intrinsic value lost in a dusty old driveway at the end of a sleepy Clarkston, Washington, cul-de-sac. But it almost seems fitting. The dog tag, the house, the man – all three nearly forgotten by time, but all three with a story still to tell.

Robert Leroy Loeffelbein, as it reads on his dog tag, was born in June of 1924 in Wenatchee, Washington, and died on Aug. 21, 2022, in Clarkston. His later years were quiet, and his passing was, sadly, almost unnoticed. But his 98 years of life were loud, his story is nothing short of extraordinary, and, with a little help, his legacy lives on.

Loeffelbein was the epitome of what LC State calls – and strives to produce – a “lifelong learner.” He attended or taught at eight colleges including LewisClark State College, Washington State University, the U.S. Naval academy, and Stanford University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation leadership from Central Washington University and a master’s degree in recreation management at the University of Oregon.

The bulk of his schooling was paid for through the GI Bill thanks to his service in the Navy. He served as a sailor in the Navy’s amphibious warfare division in World War II, and as a quartermaster navigator during the Korean War.

Loeffelbein attended LC State (then Lewiston State Normal School) in 1941-42, studying journalism. Although most of his degrees were in recreation his passion was journalism, which he taught at both Stanford and the University of Southern California before embarking on a career as a writer, with some 3,500 articles and 12 books to his credit.

He was a world traveler, especially during his days in the Navy and his years as an instructor in the College of the Seven Seas Program. The walls of his Clarkston home were covered with artifacts and souvenirs from distant journeys and myriad adventures.

He wrote about everything from golf to the history of the U.S. flag, to jousting, scams, and baseball rules. His book “The United States Flagbook” is part of the Smithsonian’s library collection. Many of his books had humor, and in all of them he sought to tell of things that had not been told – to unearth stories that few knew were there, to find value in what many might pass over as valueless.

He told many stories, but one story he wrote very little about was his own. Having outlived most of his friends and family, Loeffelbein’s later years grew quieter and his own story less known.

His parents, May and Roy Loeffelbein, lived in Clarkston and this brought him back to the LewisClark Valley throughout his adult life. In retirement, he

moved to Clarkston permanently, largely to be there for his aging parents.

Loeffelbein’s return to the Valley reconnected him with LC State, where his lifelong career in journalism first began to take shape. Perhaps it was this connection that inspired him to list the college as the recipient of his Clarkston residence within his final will and testament.

This is where Moore and the LC State Foundation come into the story. Founded in 1984, the Foundation has been dedicated to taking gifts like Loeffelbein’s, and turning them into investments in students – future journalists, nurses, scientists, welders, business owners, teachers, etc. Truly, the Foundation is in the business of turning gifts into legacies, stories that are told again and again because they should be.

The Foundation’s work with Loeffelbein’s gift is a wonderful example of the efforts made to honor the wishes of givers to the largest benefit possible for students.

In Loeffelbein’s final years he transitioned to a care center. Sadly, during this time, squatters took over his residence and badly damaged it. By the time the Foundation saw it, there was question whether the house could even be salvaged. Thankfully, the Foundation is filled with individuals who see value in even the smallest thing, and who are willing to make the effort to wipe off the dust so everyone else sees it as well.

“I would just like to add a very BIG thank you to Chris on this project,” Executive Director of the LC State Foundation Jennie Jones Hall said in an email to Foundation members. “I can honestly say that he truly had the big lift on this project. His expertise and countless hours finding contractors, meeting them at the house multiple times, doing his own clean up (with help from his father-in-law) at the house and

masterfully navigating both the bank and paperwork, was an absolute lifesaver.”

After being restored, Loeffelbein’s house sold in less than a week, resulting in a profit of around $126,000. The funds will go toward student scholarships and the meaningful lives lived by the Robert Leroy Loeffelbeins of tomorrow.

A special thanks to the Lewiston Tribune for permission to use its photos of Mr. Loeffelbein and for serving as a source of information for portions of this feature. A thank you also to Mr. Steven Branting for his supporting research.