Obituaries

Wendell Jess Furnas

The good Lord extended his hand to Wendell Jess Furnas, 94 years old, taking him gently home November 15, 2011. His family was by his side.

Captain Wendell Jess Furnas was a man of faith and conviction. He was also a man of distinction, direction, and accomplishment.

Wendell was a World War II Veteran of fame, and was asked to lecture all over the world on his experiences in Shanghai China during the war, and on his 33 year Naval Intelligence career - which included The Pentagon in Washington D.C. and tours of duty in London, England. He is credited in the book “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” for bringing important information to the United States in World War II, and will be mentioned in an upcoming documentary and book about those days.

Wendell was born in Wichita, Kansas July 27, 1917 to Edgar and Dottie Furnas, the middle child of three brothers. Although his early childhood was as a Quaker on a farm in Kansas, he came to Santa Paula in his early teens, and graduated from Santa Paula High School in 1934. 

He was very active in the Methodist Church and in the “Epworth League” with his friends the Hyde children -- Charles, Elmer, Esther, and Gladys -- as well as Reola Maland and Loren Ayres.  

Wendell was a self made man. His life has been described by many as one amazing adventure after another.

After working his way through college, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Berkeley in 1939 in History and English Literature. He then accepted a unique teaching position as a professor for the Shanghai American School in Shanghai, China, where he taught a variety of subjects, including Shakespeare. Simultaneously, he was the editor for two Chinese American newspapers.  

The timing of this job, in relation to events occurring in world history, changed his life dramatically. It was 1940, and by this time Shanghai had been shelled, a British boat sunk, and the city was taken over by Japan. Americans were asked to leave immediately, and schools were shut down. Wendell, then in his early twenties, suddenly found himself with nothing but the clothing on his back, trying to escape with a band of POW Marine escapees led by Chinese guerilla freedom fighters.  

There are many amazing stories as they traveled through the Chinese countryside at night, hiding in small villages along the way, and with almost nothing to eat. Wendell was captured by the Japanese and taken to the Bridge House Prison, a place of torture and death. He was there alongside some of the Doolittle Raiders, who had also been captured, some who died there.

Wendell was sentenced to death. He was, however, traded at the last moment in the first United States exchange prisoner program. He was titled “the luckiest man in China”.   

When he came back to the United States on the Swedish ship Gripsholm, because he had brought back important information he was asked to join the Navy as a Japanese language student and work in Admiral Nimitz’s Intelligence Center in Pearl Harbor. He interpreted codes that only he could decipher, and he found himself landing with the marines on Guadalcanal and sharing a foxhole with the man who took the famous picture that inspired the well known statue in Washington D.C. of the men raising the flag in Iwo Jima. He served on a critical amphibious unit, which took the last troops into Korea in World War II.

Wendell was dedicated to Naval Intelligence for 33 years, where he served on numerous units including Head of Naval Intelligence Collection for Western Europe, the Mid East, and Africa. He was the Officer-in-Charge of organizing and automating all the Intelligence reports for the Navy (early computers!). He commandeered many critical Task Forces, one of which required him to fly blindfolded in the President’s helicopter to attend a meeting at Camp David.   

He was well known in the Pentagon, and in his last tour of duty as Commandant of the Defense Intelligence School he put together and obtained an agreement through Congress and the Defense Department to make the Defense School a Master’s Degree College in which to train attaches from all the armed services. Through this program, which he initiated, attachés from his school were successfully sent to all of the capitals of the world.

Captain Furnas was also a distinguished author who enjoyed writing numerous articles on various subjects for Esquire and Colliers, his most famous ones being on Japanese swords and on unique bird wildlife throughout the United States. Both of these articles caused him to receive numerous requests for more.

Most of all, Wendell was a devoted family man. 

He was preceded in death in 1977 by his wife, Esther Hyde, who had long time Santa Paula roots. He is survived by his wife Karen, his daughter Tammi, his grandchildren C.G. and Vanessa Gray, Maryrose Gray, and a brother Raymond. He also leaves many friends all over the world who loved and respected him… and whom he loved and respected.

He was an inspiring educator, a world traveler, a decorated military officer, a Japanese linguist, a code expert, an interpreter, a citrus grower, a sought after lecturer, an author, a scholar, and a loving husband, parent, and grandfather. He was a poet, a patriot, a philosopher, and a gentleman.   

He felt you could never go wrong by doing the kind thing. His true identification was fully and truly expressed in his own words: “Whenever you get a chance… put a drop of kindness into the pot of humanity.”

To his family and friends he leaves behind a legacy of kindness, love, laughter and adventure, which will remain tucked in our hearts forever. We know he has now entered the eternal Church triumphant.

The funeral services are as follows, and all are most welcome: Gravesite memorial and Military Honor Guard Salute - 11 a.m., the Santa Paula Cemetery, 380 Cemetery Rd., Santa Paula, CA 93060; the church memorial service at First United Methodist Church is at 12:30 p.m., 133 N. Mill St., Santa Paula, CA 93060. Any questions: Contact Skillin-Carroll Mortuary Chapel, (805) 525-3391.

In lieu of flowers, you may send a donation in his name (Captain Wendell J. Furnas): The Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 123, P.O. Box 5046, Culver City, CA 90231-5046.