Queen of Eugene

Last Sunday's Oregonian carried the obituary for Shirley Nyman Pape'.  Shirley's life of 99 years was well lived with a Mills College and Stanford education as well as a graduate degree from the University of Oregon. Shirley truly was, during the '50, '60s , and '70s, the Queen of Eugene, Oregon with her production of children's television shows as TV came to America.  When TV's second station, ABC affiliate KEZI, arrived, Shirley became Women's Editor and interviewed local and national celebrities.  She was married to Dean Pape', who owned a large dealership for heavy construction and logging equipment.  Shirley sat on a number of boards connected to charitable activities and was involved in Eugene's social life.

When the University of Oregon was awarded the 1972 Olympic Trials in Track and Field, I had a role with the board of directors who would produce the event.  This was a big national deal involving the United States Olympic Committee, America's top track and field coaches and athletes and all the administrators connected to those entities.  Shirley Pape' contacted our board and offered to host a reception one evening of the ten-day event for the meet organizers and VIP visitors to Eugene. It would be held in her home in the east hills of the city.

"Home" does not adequately describe the Pape' mansion.  The large house with spacious grounds high above the city and the University of Oregon campus was known locally as "Shirley's Temple." For the cocktail  reception, which was held on the tennis court, she brought in two long rows of troughs running the length of the court that were filled with charcoal briquettes. When fired up they would warm the evening chill.  To enhance the appearance of the troughs, Tiki torches on long metal rods were attached and the effect was quite breathtaking.

Perhaps a half hour into the cocktails as the guests mingled on the tennis court watching the beautiful sunset over the Oregon campus, an event occurred that none of those in attendance would ever forget.  Those troughs of smoldering briquettes created such intense heat that they started melting the metal rods supporting the tiki torches which caused them to bend over, striking the guests like flaming spears.  Panic.  Men and women screaming as the torches came down one by one.

No one was seriously injured and the party moved inside for dinner.  The night of flaming torches was not mentioned in Shirley's obit.