Keeping cool with some warm memories

Libby Corathers doesn’t have air conditioning, and she admittedly

doesn’t really need it. Her Corona del Mar home is only 100 feet from

a bluff overlooking the Pacific, and the breezes help her keep cool

year round.

Besides, she’s been through worse weather.

Born and raised in Wooster, Ohio, and the widow of a Marine pilot

who served in Indonesia, Korea and Guam, Corathers has seen her share

of heat, humidity, monsoons and tropical storms. For the past 36

years, though, she’s enjoyed modest temperatures in her cozy house on

Narcissus Avenue.

The house still showcases novelties that remind her of her travels

-- Bali tribal carvings, handmade Sumatran wood houses and, of

course, breathtaking art of the rocky Corona del Mar shoreline.

Corathers sat down with the Daily Pilot’s Jeff Benson to talk

about life in Ohio and around the globe during World War II.

Where did you grow up?

I lived in Ohio for 23 years, until I got married. I went to

Wooster College, a Presbyterian school where I was an English history

major. I worked my way through college at the local library. I loved

my work and decided I was going to be an old-maid librarian.

One day, I went in for an interview, and there were two of us who

were up for the job. The other girl was single, and I was married, so

they said she needed the work more than I did. That’s the way they

did it in those days, and I didn’t get the job I wanted.

Where did you end up working?

I didn’t do anything until I came here. I was living on my

husband’s salary because he was always employed as a Marine Corps

pilot.

When I came to Corona del Mar, I decided I’d like to work. Before,

I just moved around from one base to another.

Instead, I worked as a bookkeeper for a clinical psychologist in

Corona del Mar for 17 years. I put her checks in the bank and did

things for her at her home while she was gone. And several years ago,

I worked at the Sea Urchin, which sold seashells in Corona del Mar.

But we had a recession a few years back, and the store went out of

business.

Describe your husband. How did you meet him?

When I was in Wooster, other servicemen were shipped out of town

and a battalion of Marines took their place in the college

dormitories. I was in the USO at the time, and we established a

cantina downstairs. We also planned activities in the college

gymnasium, and that’s where I met my husband, John Kenneth, on New

Year’s Eve, 1944.

We knew we were made for each other. We got married on Christmas

Day, 1945, in the Lutheran church where I was raised. He got a 10-day

leave, and we took advantage of it. We were married 56-and-a-half

years until he died on the Fourth of July in 2002, like a true

Marine.

What did he do while he was in the military?

He never wanted to be a commissioned pilot in the Marine Corps. He

wanted to be a warrant officer because his mentor was a warrant

officer. But he was stationed in Hawaii and he flew. He was an

instrument-rated pilot, so he could fly in all kinds of weather.

Most of the pilots in Hawaii were sent to Berlin to get people out

of the city during the Berlin Airlift. My husband was in the squadron

sent to Barber’s Point, Oahu, since so many others had gone off to

Berlin. He went on to Travis Air Force Base, Guam and Japan and then

spent five months in Korea. Our two children and I went back to Ohio

to live while he was in Korea, and while he was there he was put in

embassy duty as a pilot for the ambassador.

Some time later he asked, “Would you like to go to Indonesia with

me?” I thought for a second, then said, “Sure.” We were there for two

years and picked up a lot of the language.

What did you think of the experience?

It was all fascinating. I’m glad we got to go. This morning, there

was an explosion at the Australian embassy that killed some people.

When we were there, they were just building the new U.S. embassy. We

never thought anything of the dangers in Jakarta. It was just another

place to go. They were just weaning themselves away from Dutch rule

when we were there.

What happened when you returned from overseas?

Well, John Wayne was always one of my husband’s favorite people.

While he was stationed at El Toro, he flew John Wayne and some camera

crews around during the filming of “The Flying Leathernecks” and got

some pictures taken with them. They worked a lot together.

I was up at Fashion Island by myself one day, years ago, and got

John Wayne’s autograph. I didn’t want to ask if he remembered my

husband or not because I was too embarrassed to say anything. I’m

sure he’s worked in a ton of movies.

What are you up to now?

I am just so fond of the Oasis Senior Center. My husband and I

joined in 1972, when it first came to town. We were some of the early

birds. We went to some of the dances, and after he died, I went to

even more.

Now I’m in this walkers group and about five or six of us get out

and hike for a couple hours each week. It’s more fun when you hike in

a group. I still do a lot of baby-sitting, too.

I still try to keep active at the Community Church of Corona del

Mar, getting people to donate flowers for our altar. Brides used to

come from miles around to be married there.