Pearl Harbor survivor a quiet, loving man

Ted Lane was at Pearl Harbor on the day of the attacks. Aboard the USS Case, he was one of the survivors. “Nobody should ever have to witness men burning up in water,” he would say.

Lane served proudly from the waters of Alaska to the South Seas of the Pacific though he hardly spoke of his experiences. “The only thing he would say was that there were weeks of sheer boredom to go along with moments of pure terror,” said Lane’s son-in-law, Jere Heuer.

Lane died Feb. 3. He was 85 years old.

Lane spoke little about himself. He was adopted and he enlisted in the Navy when he was 19. Whatever he had experienced had marked him in some way and he got through it by living to the max and enjoying every minute of it. “He would spontaneously burst into laughter for no reason,” said his wife, Toni Lane. “Tears would run down his cheeks.”

For Lane, it was all about today, not yesterday or even tomorrow. He would often say “you only live once” and “spend it while you can.” His family was small, all the more to lavish with gifts. What mattered was seizing the day.

He liked to watch golf and NASCAR, and enjoyed taking pictures. He loved the water, Australia, family, good friends, barbecuing and good food.

Lane’s daughter, Robin Heuer, recalled one of her first childhood memories. “I was about 4 or 5. I sat on my dad’s lap at the dinner table. He showed me how to open steamed clams then dip them in melted butter. We ate them with French bread. It’s one of my fondest memories.” She also reflected on the way he would discipline in love, not anger.

Lane would talk to anybody, anywhere. “He loved to talk,” said his wife. “When he had his stroke, I was glad he still had his speech.” Some time after Lane’s stroke, he broke his hip, had surgery, went into a nursing home in Spokane Valley and never came home.

Lane worked for Boeing as an aircraft inspector. He retired as a letter carrier. After retiring, he worked for Xerox, and devoted much of his time to the pursuit of happiness. Still, he always wondered why nothing had happened to him at Pearl Harbor.

Jere Heuer considered Lane a hero. “Depending on who you go by, while aboard the Case, Ted and his crew were awarded between seven and 11 battle stars in World War II,” he said. “Naval records have conflicting information. We have records to support both.”

Robin Heuer tried to get Lane to talk about his experiences to no avail. “The incidents were as fresh 65-plus years later as they were on the day of the actual attack,” she said.

In October, the family plans to hold a memorial at Pearl Harbor where Lane’s ashes will be scattered.