On a date that will forever be associated with the tragedy of the twin towers and Pentagon, volunteers came together across Clallam County on Sept. 11 to turn it into a “day of caring,” painting houses and sprucing up parks and community centers from Forks to Sequim.

Projects were coordinated by United Way of Clallam County, Paint the Town and Volunteer Chore Services.

One project that touched the hearts of all the volunteers was the painting of the home of Keith and Genevieve Vanderziel in Port Angeles.

Jody Moss, United Way of Clallam County executive director, called it the “sweetheart project.”

“The Vanderziel home is sort of special,” she said. “A lot of people will remember them.”

The house is no architectural marvel, a simple post-World War II bungalow on a dead end street. What’s special is the couple inside.

The Vanderziels have lived in their home since 1956 and raised three children there, Cheryl, Mark and Janet.

On Sept. 4, they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Keith is 80, Genevieve 81.

A Korean War veteran, Keith served 16 years in the military, then worked in mills around Port Angeles, and in janitorial service.

Genevieve worked for 32 years at Olympic Memorial Hospital — now Olympic Medical Center — before retiring 16 years ago.

They share the house with two large, friendly dogs and four cats.

‘The waver’

Keith is well-known around Port Angeles as “the waver,” the friendly, white-haired man who walked everywhere, always with a smile and wave for passing motorists.

He could often be seen standing and waving on the corner of Seventh and Race streets, just a few blocks from his home.

In 2001, it was discovered he harbored a 20-pound cancerous tumor near his liver. An operation removed it, but his health continued to deteriorate.

Several years ago the cancer came back, and he is now in the final stages of terminal cancer, Genevieve said.

He also suffers from dementia.

“He used to walk all over town, now it takes him two hours to walk half a block,” Genevieve said.

Keith seemed in high spirits Friday as a volunteer crew of painters from United Way and Americorp swarmed his house, scraping paint and priming in preparation for the final coat of paint to be applied the next day.

He waved his cane around to point out spots the crew missed, and discussed the paint color choice with United Way volunteer Karen Delano.

“It’s going to be aqua blue –like your eyes,” she told him.

“Our kids grew up with him,” she said. “When I heard it was his house I was excited to help. Keith’s a good man. The whole town is going to miss him.”

Delano took the day off from work Friday to pitch in with the painting.

“On this National Day of Caring it’s a good way to do something positive,” she said. “They’re good people. It’s good thing to do.”

Genevieve said she was surprised when their application for the project was approved.

“We felt really lucky,” she said.

She estimated the house was last painted in 2001 by her daughter, but the wooden shingles had weathered badly and were in need of repainting.

Paint the Town

Paint the Town president Pat Downie said he was pleased when the Vanderziels applied and were accepted.

Applicants must be low-income homeowners with no intent to sell or rent the house.

“The program is intended to help them remain safely in their homes and to maintain the home’s value,” he said. “It also improves the neighborhood.”

Houses in need of painting are often accompanied by yards in need of care, and the volunteers pitched in to do that too, cutting grass, pulling weeds and putting smiles on the homeowners’ faces.

Other project tackled Sept. 11 in Port Angeles were the painting of a home on Georgiana St., landscaping at St. Andrew’s Place, cleaning and painting the First Step Family Support Center and clean up work at Francis Street Park and Valley Estuary Park.

Projects in Sequim were sprucing up the Sequim Community School and the food bank, and building a soccer program storage shed for the Sequim School District soccer program.

In Forks, volunteers cleaned up the town in preparation for the Stephenie Meyer Day weekend, and in Clallam Bay/Sekiu volunteers cleaned up and landscaped the West End Youth & Community Club in Sekiu.

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Features Editor Marcie Miller can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at marcie.miller@peninsuladailynews.com.