| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 8:41 pm |
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Local News 
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USO singer's voice still charms them in Edmonds EDMONDS — Name a song from the 1940s, and there's a good chance Joannie Jackson Schendel can sing it from memory.After all, she sang for U.S. troops during World War II and later on Broadway. Schendel, 86, gave about 125 people a taste of her repertoire during a special benefit performance to honor veterans Sunday for the South County Senior Center. “She's got a memory a mile long,” said Bob Jones, director of the Edmonds-based Sound Singers, an Edmonds choir composed of seniors who rehearse weekly at the senior center. With her close friend, piano accompanist June Tonkin, the Lynnwood resident re-created the look and feel of 1940s-era USO shows in a 90-minute performance billed as the USO Revue. Jones performed with choir members Jack Wilson, Janet Forde and Mike Westmiller. Couples danced the jitterbug, a popular 1930s and 40s-era dance. Tables were decorated with helmets and sailors' hats; walls were filled with old record albums. On a table, Schendel carefully placed a photograph of her brother, Daniel Gust, 91, the recipient of 29 medals of honor for his World War II military service. “He's one of the oldest, most decorated war heroes on the East Coast,” she said. “He's 91 and still taking care of his own home.” She sang at military bases in the South Pacific and Europe, joining such legendary stars as the late Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan and Danny Kaye. Later, she sang in such Broadway shows as “South Pacific,” “Oklahoma” and “Guys and Dolls.” She started singing in church at 3. Her singing career really began at 11, when she was paid to sing on WLS radio in Chicago. “There were probably 3,000 people in the audience,” she said, in an interview at the Lynnwood home she now shares with her dog, a Maltese named Elvis Murphy The King. “It scared the heck out of me.”' In December, 1941 Japanese pilots attacked Pearl Harbor, pushing the United States into war. Schendel, then known as Joannie Jackson, was 17. She had just started school at the University of California, Los Angeles. She knew she'd be joining in the war effort. Schendel, already an accomplished soloist, was asked if she'd be willing to volunteer as a performer with the newly formed United Service Organizations, an association that has since grown into the largest support service for U.S. military personnel around the world. Shows in Europe, she recalled, were held at military bases named after cigarettes, with names like Camp Chesterfield, Camp Lucky Strike and Camp Marlboro. After six months of performing in New Guinea, she went to New York, where she rented an apartment in Manhattan before heading off to perform for troops in Europe. She rented her apartment to other USO performers. “I'd tell the girls, ‘You can have the apartment while I'm gone,'” she said. “I'll bet there were 20 of us who lived in the apartment in the four years I was gone.” After the war, she returned on a ship bound for New York's harbor with thousands of troops aboard. “I don't know how they kept it afloat,” she said. “It was a terrible storm and we were supposed to land the 15th of December but we didn't arrive until New Year's Day.” After several years performing on Broadway, Schendel went to Los Angeles to work as the understudy for screen actress Betty Hutton. She was the late actress' stunt woman. “If she got a pie in the face or was tied to the railroad tracks, that was me,” Schendel recalled. The experience left Schendel with a back injury, however, and she sought relief from a specialist in Seattle in the early 1950s. “My agent told me ‘Joanne, no one goes to Seattle, that's a jumping-off point,'” she said. “I said, ‘I don't care, book me.'” In Seattle, she began singing at The Grove nightclub. There she met Al Schendel, the man who would be her husband for 21 years. The couple raised three children. In the early 1950s, Schendel performed on a local TV show called “IGA Starliner” live with Scandinavian humorist Stan Boreson, known for, among other things, playing the accordion while singing “I just don't look good naked anymore.” She also began performing at area parties as Happy the Clown. Before she knew it, Schendel was in business supervising nine other female clowns, all known as “Happy.” “It was just an instant success,” she said. An arsonist in 1996 destroyed the storage facility where Schendel says she had kept more than 1,000 record albums and photographs. “Those are memories I can never get back,” she said. She took an extended break from her singing career but rekindled the passion when she discovered the Edmonds choir, which has performed at various public venues, including Seattle Mariners games. Tonkin has known Schendel for more than 40 years. “She was going around to different clubs and restaurants, sitting in and singing,” said Tonkin, who plays piano professionally. “We just instantly became friends. She's full of stories and she's full of songs.” Many of those photos may be gone, but she there are many more memories she hasn't lost. “The Lord was good to me. He didn't give me Alzheimer's,” she said, “so I can still tell my story even if I can't show it.” Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429, ohalpert@heraldnet.com To donate To help the South County Senior Center, send a donation to: South County Senior Center, P.O. Box 717, Edmonds, WA 98020-0717 |
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