Memorial service set for last survivor of USS Arizona attack in Pearl Harbor

By Lindsay Weber

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    GRASS VALLEY, California (KCRA) — A Grass Valley veteran hailed by President Biden as a hero will be remembered in his hometown on Tuesday.

Lou Conter, the last living survivor on board the USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, died earlier this month at age 102.

A memorial service for Conter will take place on Tuesday morning.

The service will take place at St. Patrick’s Church at 235 Chapel Street in Grass Valley at 10:30 a.m.

The service is open to the public and organizers expect 100% capacity as people near and far will pay their respects.

The Grass Valley Police Department will enforce traffic closures in the immediate area of the church to enhance pedestrian safety.

The closures will impact South Church and Chapel Street by 8:30 a.m., the police department said. Traffic control is expected to be lifted by 12:30 p.m.

The memorial will conclude with a procession to St. Patrick’s Cemetery on West Main Street. The public is invited to line the sidewalks along South Church and West Main to view the procession.

Family members told KCRA 3 the ceremony will include full military honors.

“There was no time to do anything,” Conter said. “It happened so fast.”

Twenty-one ships were sunk or significantly damaged and 2,400 Americans were killed, with another 1,100 wounded.

Following Conter’s death on April 1, President Joe Biden hailed him as a hero.

“Our hearts are with Lou Conter’s family and friends, and all those he served with over the years, including his shipmates on the U.S.S. Arizona,” the president wrote in a statement. “May God bless and keep them.”

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