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Note: l at the John Wesley Crea farm 1/2 mile to the south was 316 feet deep. The new well at the Lewis Crea Hog House Complex was 300 feet deep, and yields 35 gpm. Those are all down into the Columbia Basalts--a highly fractured lava rock. The well at the Crea Cabin on the Middle Fork is 340 feet deep, and yields 10-1/2 gpm (that one is into granite). ------ Went to Elementary School in Grangeville(?), 19xx-19xx. Went to High School in Grangeville(?), and graduated in 19xx?? Biography (as told from Lewis to DACrea and recorded here from meager notes. In general, it was tough to get opinions, details, or a clear-cut timeline from him; I suspect there may have been a lot more fun during the Hawaii stint than he has ever told about): Prior to U of Illinois stint to get his BS Civil Eng'rg degree: He began at U of Idaho in Moscow and took two semesters in Ag Engineering, and stayed in Lindley Hall. Then he had to move to a house-apartment for two months because the Army took over Lindley Hall completely. Then he went to Butte, Montana to School of Mines for two semesters. In these four semesters, he got in all of his elective courses. Somewhere in here when at Moscow, he became a "V-12 Program" enlistee. [(V-12 Program description from quick 'net search.) The Navy V-12 Navy College Training Program began July 1, 1943 and was the largest Navy officer training program of World War II. It was established as part of the Naval ROTC to provide accelerated officer training at American colleges and universities. The program was unique in that the men were officer candidates in an enlisted status while attending civilian schools under Navy contract. V-12 participants were required to carry 17 credit hours and nine and one-half hours of physical training each week. Study was year-round, three terms of four months each. The number of terms for a trainee depended on his previous college background, if any, and his course of study. From the V-12 program, most of the Navy trainees went on to a four-month course at a reserve midshipmen's school.] September 1942-June 1945: Lewis was in ROTC, and did BS Civil Engineering in college in only 2 years 9 months during the wartime push. That left essentially no time for any of the normal college socializing. He started at the Montana School of Mines in Butte for 2 semesters, then ended up at the University of Illinois at Urbana for 4 semesters, and he graduated from there. 1945, June, July & August: Went to "Midshipman's School" (technically: "Officer Candidate School") at U-Illinois and came out a "90-Day Wonder". Civil Engineers were sent to either domestic bases, or into the 'CBs' aka 'SeaBees' or 'Construction Battallions'. These were always run by a "Line Officer" who did not necessarily have any degree, but might have 2 years of school or Anapolis Naval Academy. 1945, September & October: Went to "Officers Training School" in Dansville, Rhode Island. Then was sent to San Francisco, and waited there 2 weeks for a ship to Hawaii. He got there just before Christmas 1945. 1946, Jan-June: Spent 6 months on duty in a "SeaBees" or Construction Batallion (CB) unit as "Assistant Transportation Officer" or "Shop O2". Their shop dealt with cranes, locomotives and trucks. His job was to coordinate Jeeps as transportation for personnel who were rotating back to Hawaii from Western Pacific duty. He says his main challenge at the time was to keep supplied with tires for them, and keep them in good running order. He had a 1942 Dodge "Woody" Station Wagon assigned to himself. One of his most memorable experiences was when 3 of them flew to Maui and got a Manwagon (2-seat open 4WD, cloth top, rugged), and drove to the top of the volcano, to Heleakala, to Hana (then very primitive). The road was in some places just two tracks through sagebrush, but they went all the way around Maui. 1946, July: Back to San Francisco by ship, then train to Seattle and was mustered out of the Navy, then headed back to the farm in Idaho. He moved into doing farm maintenance, painting and renovating the 1903 Toennis House (then occupied by Ralph and Florence Crea, and helped build the new house for Ralph and Florence over at the farm by Greencreek. 1947, February: Went to work at the Andersen Ranch Dam construction project in southern Idaho. It was hot & miserable in the bunkhouse, and the mess hall had "poor food" for 3-400 workers. He did some relatively unexciting work such as calculating the cost of emplacing rebar. 1947, August: Went back to the Farm NW of Fenn, Idaho to help work it. 1969: The first of the confined-space buildings to raise hogs was built. Lewis and friend ___ Arnzen were the first to bring that practice to Camas Prairie. 1983: They purchased the Cabin on the Middle Fork of the Clearwater from Mr. McNutt. That would become a treasured part of the family, and the cause of ongoing work to keep it up. One of the first things that occurred was to deepen the well to 340 feet and increase the yield from about 3 gpm to 10-1/2 gpm. The road was improved, and the yard became another place to apply Roberta's green thumb. The planted several sweet cherry trees, and had protection around them to keep the deer away. Also several walnut trees, thinking they would be a good investment for some future person to harvest. I believe the only one that really flouished was in front of the cabin where it was nourished by septic tank effluent apparently. The area was thick with a native sweet cherry tree that had many cherries of excellent flavor, though small compared to commercial varieties. When they came on each summer, the birds went crazy with delight eating them, and so did we. Later, they found that McNutt had apparently moved some boundary markers to places more to his liking, and later surveys by the Forest Service made for some complicated dealings and finally an exchange of land somewhere else I believe; I'm not sure just where. Ownership of the cabin passed to Mike & Lu Crea in 2014 I think it was. The rest of us were glad it was kept "in the family" as it was a special place as a retreat for us all. Mike & Lu dived into a bunch of work that it needed due to a deteriorated native granite & mortar chimney, and the whole fireplace that occupied the center was removed. OBITUARY from Lewiston Morning Tribune of January 23, 2015: Lewis Alan Crea was born Dec. 4, 1923, in the family farm house near Fenn, the fourth of five sons to William J. and Mary A. Toennis Crea. He passed into eternity Monday, Jan. 19, 2015, of old age and an "overabundance of knowledge" at Brookside Landing in Orofino. He attended school in Grangeville and graduated from Grangeville High School. He joined the U.S. Navy and started college at the University of Idaho. He was transferred to the Montana College of Mines and then on to the University of Illinois, where he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering. After graduation, he was stationed in Honolulu. Upon discharge, he went to work for Morrison Knudsen as a purchasing engineer on Anderson Ranch Dam. A call from his father brought him back to the family farm, where he began his career in farming. In 1949, he met the girl of his dreams, Roberta McAllister, and they were married May 16, 1950, in Grangeville at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic church. He was a member of the Grengeville Elks Club, Fenn Highway District, Camas Prairie Pork Producers, Idaho County Cattlemen and the Cottonwood School Board. He served as an Idaho County Commissioner for 14 years. He never tried to hide his political preferences and said he only voted for two people in his life, Ike and Reagan. The rest of the time, he was voting against someone. Lewis and Roberta's lives were busy with the farm and ranch raising wheat, barley, cattle, hogs and nine children. Lewis was proud that all of his children had the opportunity to attend college and believed a college education was worth more than a "cab on a tractor." As the children grew and Mike came home to farm in 1976 after college graduation, Lewis and Roberta found time to travel. They especially enjoyed going to many warm places all around the world during the winter months, and very much enjoyed Australia, New Zealond, the South Pacific Islands, Hawaii and Florida. The also travelled to Europe while son Brian was in the military stationed in Germany. Lewis enjoyed boating and picnicking at Dworshak Reservoir as well as spending time at his cabin on the Clearwater. After Lewis and Roberta moved to town in 1991, Lewis enjoyed having coffee with his friends and was often seen walking home with a bag of mail. He is surivived by his wife of 64 and a half years; his children, David (Helen), Steve (Susan), Mike (Lu), Julie (Ian), Laurie (Rock), Barbie (Richard), Shawn (Cindy), Layne (Summer) and Brian; a brother, Bill Crea; and sister-in-law Ann Crea. He also boasts many grandchildren and greatgrands and numerous nieces and nephews.. He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers George, Ralph (Florence) and Earl (Alice). Suggested memorials are St. Mary's Hospital Foundation Fund or the National Rifle Association. Viewing will be held noon to 8 p.m. Sunday at Uhlorn Funeral Home. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Cottonwood, with graveside services to follow with military honors. A dinner will be served at the Cottonwood Community Hall following the services.
Note: According to Lewis Crea, in 2001: The original 1908 Toennis well was 276 feet deep. The wel
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