Edward Paul Palen

He was born at 17 Palmer Street in Gowanda, NY on April 16, 1925, the youngest child of Paul and Mary Skutnik Palen. His family had a small farm with numerous animals before the village rewrote its zoning ordinances, where he learned the value of hard work, self-reliance and love for nature. As a boy, his closest friends were the Massars, Holocinskis, Palcics and Kralls.

After graduation from Gowanda High School in 1942, he earned a scholarship to Stratford Graduate School in Buffalo, where he studied business subjects. He became proficient at shorthand, a skill he retained and used for the rest of his life.

After a term at Stratford, Ed enlisted in the U. S. Navy in April of 1943. Following boot camp at Sampson Naval Training Station at Geneva, NY, he underwent training at Key West, Florida to become a Soundman, to detect underwater vessels. From there he did amphibious training at Little Creek, Virginia until he reported aboard the destroyer USS Ordronaux (DD-617) at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Sept. 22, 1943. His rate was Soundman 3rd Class. Among his friends and shipmates was Tommy Byrne of Baltimore, who pitched for four American League baseball teams from 1943 to 1957, primarily the New York Yankees.

During this time, the ship’s captain learned that Ed was proficient in shorthand, and his rate was changed to Yeoman 3 rd Class. His duty was to transcribe messages received from other ships, type them and relay them to the commanding officer. He received two promotions, attaining the rate of Yeoman 1st class by Oct. 1, 1944. Ed crossed the Atlantic Ocean six times on the Ordronaux, as part of a convoy between the East Coast and Europe. During his time in Europe, he was in England, Wales, and Ireland. On Feb. 17, 1944, while pursuing a German U-boat off Nova Scotia, he was injured by the premature explosion of a depth charge, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. Later that year, sailing along the west coast of Europe, the Ordronaux entered the Mediterranean Sea at Gibraltar, Spain. Ed went ashore in north Africa at Algeria and Morocco. At the time, he was barely 19 years old. He was involved in offensive operations against German forces along the Italian coast in support of the U. S. Fifth Army, including the Battle of Anzio. They participated in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August, providing close fire support for troop landings at Frejus and Saint Raphael.

After the war in Europe ended in May of 1945, he came back to the States, then sailed through the Panama Canal and out into the Pacific Ocean, bound for Japan. The Ordronaux participated in the bombardment of Wake Island on Aug. 1, 1945. Preparing for a land invasion of Japan, they were buoyed by the news that on August 6, the first atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, followed by another nuclear device over Nagasaki three days later. He went ashore at Okinawa and arrived in Tokyo Bay a day before Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945.

Returning to the States, the Ordronaux was taken out of service and Ed was transferred to the USS Champlin (DD-601) on March 27, 1946. He was honorably discharged at Lido Beach, Long Island on April 22, 1946. Besides the Purple Heart, he received the Good Conduct Medal, American Theatre Medal, Victory Medal, Asiatic Pacific Medal, and the European Theatre Medal with two battle stars.

He returned home to Gowanda in April, by which time both his parents had passed away. He worked various jobs, including Fred Schoos Construction and the Moench Tanning Company. On alentine’s Day, 1948, he met Veronica Skoczylas at a dance at the VFW Post and began dating. They were married Sept. 24, 1949, at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Gowanda. They were married 60 years until her death on Nov. 1, 2009.

In 1951, he began his career selling property and casualty insurance for the Johnson-Tarbox Agency at 50 West Main Street in Gowanda. When partners Axel Johnson and Charles R. Tarbox parted company, Ed went with Tarbox to 26 Buffalo Street in the old Stelzer Building. In 1957, Tarbox had a new office building constructed across the street, where Ed worked until 2003, when he retired at age 78. He purchased the business in 1966 when Charles Tarbox became postmaster in Gowanda. He

was a member of the National Association of Realtors and New York State Association of Realtors. He was also the Democratic Party chairmen for the Town of Collins in the 1960s.

In 1954, Ed and “Ronnie” had a new home built by Herbert O. Harris on Caroline Road, where they resided until her death in 2009, and his moving to the nursing facility in 2023. Together they raised three children, all of whom survive. Mark resides in Missoula, Montana, and Phillip and Marita are in Gowanda. Mark and his wife, the former Kathryn Sue Decker, are the parents of Carleen (Steve) Goodsell and Jared D. Palen, both of the Missoula area. There are six great-grandchilden and a great-

great-granddaughter.

Besides his parents, Ed was predeceased by seven siblings and their spouses, Walter (Bertha) Palen, Helen (Floyd) Edwards, Felix Palen, Jenny (Milford) Anderson, Katherine (Felix) Kosmowski, Frank (Marjorie) Palen, and John (Betty) Palen, as well as his son-in-law, Marita’s husband, John T. Tropp.

Ed loved gardening and planting trees, helping the village plant hundreds of trees as part of the Re-Leaf Gowanda initiative, even into his 80s. He was a member of St. Joseph’s Church, St. Vincent de Paul Society, and Holy Name Society, a charter member and past commander, in 1951, of James J. Cruden VFW Post 5007, American Legion Post 409, Gowanda Moose Club and the Gowanda Area Historical Society. He devoted many years of service to the Gowanda Lions Club. He loved studying Polish culture and language, attended the Catholic University of Lublin twice on scholarships, and traveled with Ronnie to the Caribbean, Italy, and Poland, where they met some of her relatives in the Skoczylas family. Beginning in the 1990s, he organized and attended several reunions of his shipmates aboard the Ordronaux in various cities across the country. He is believed to be the last surviving combat veteran of World War II from Gowanda.

There will be no public viewing. Interment will take place at Holy Cross Cemetery in Gowanda.

Mentley Funeral Home, Inc., 105 East Main Street, Gowanda is in charge of arrangements.

Send memorials in Ed’s name to the Gowanda Lions Club (PO Box 1) or Gowanda Area Historical Society (PO Box 372) ZIP 14070.

To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Edward, please visit our Tree Store.