Vern B. King

Vern was born November 3, 1943 in Corvallis to Vernon B. King, Sr. and wife, Bernice.

He passed away January 23, 2021 at home in Coquille with wife, Sue and good friends, Wendy King and Terry Drake by his side, after a yearlong battle with cancer. Cremation rites have been held at Ocean View Memory Gardens in Coos Bay and at his request, no public services will be held.

Vern graduated from Marshfield High School in 1962, attended SWOCC for two years, then three years in the US Navy in the Vietnam conflict. His professional career was with Sause Bros. Ocean Towing as a barge loader and Chief Engineer on tugboats as well as various supervisory positions in Hawaii, the South Pacific and Southern California, retiring in Coos Bay in 2000.

Vern was a multi-talented individual and mentor to many (young and old). He enjoyed doing leather work, archery (winning a tournament while in England) guiding wild game hunts in Southern California, raising standard schnauzers, and trips to Bonneville and Indianapolis with friend, Nic Pappas. In recent years, he looked forward to summer picnics for the class of ’62 and making pizza at friend Monty Page’s outdoor pizza oven.

However, the thing most people will remember was his phenomenal ability to build cars and car engines. Not only street rods, but drag race cars. Our garage was the home of beautiful 1955 Chevrolets, which were driven near and far to many car shows and on a daily basis. His first ’55, the Jolly Green Giant won the Hot Rod Magazine’s Championship C Class Trophy.

Vern’s home was his pride and joy as was his new shop built in 2018 and a smaller home he built for our “later” years he leaves for Sue to enjoy.

Vern is survived by wife, Sue; sister, Pat Pompa; brother, John King; step-daughter, Tracy Kerns; step-son, Tharon Bales; brother in law, Dan Thompson; and many, many, car friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Vern’s name may be made to St. Jude’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Covid permitting, a car related memorial will be held this summer.

Arrangements are under the care of Coos Bay Chapel, 541-267-3131. Friends and family are encouraged to sign the online guestbook at www.coosbayareafunerals.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Vern B. King, please visit our floral store.