'Bruce became a martyr, and I became a widow'

By Associated Press Published: Jul 1, 2009 at 3:09 PM PST

BAKER CITY, Ore. (AP) — A 1954 Baker High School graduate killed while protesting the construction of a segregated school in Cleveland 45 years ago will be honored Friday in a ceremony at the Baker County Courthouse.

Bruce Klunder, a 27-year-old pastor, was crushed by a bulldozer April 7, 1964. He lay down under a tire while trying to stop construction and was killed instantly when the operator ran over him.

"He was a man who did the right thing at the right time," County Commissioner Tim Kerns said of Klunder. "He was a local boy who has been memorialized in other places, and it seemed like he should be in his home community, too."

Klunder attended Baker High School with other people who went on to accomplish noteworthy things, including Bobb McKittrick, the Super Bowl-winning offensive line coach of the San Francisco 49ers who was also class valedictorian in 1954. Also from that class is Mike Doherty, who now coaches at Oregon City and is the winningest high school basketball coach in state history.

McKittrick died in 2000. Doherty has promised to send a letter about Klunder, his friend and roommate at Oregon State University. It will be read during Friday's ceremony.

Klunder's widow, Joanne Hardy, plans to attend Friday's ceremony, in which a plaque and photograph will be dedicated in Klunder's memory.

"Reluctantly, we decided civil disobedience was the only way to stop the building — as Bruce put it — placing our bodies between the workers and their work," Hardy told the Baker City Herald in 2001.

"On the second day of civil disobedience, a team of four ran out to stop a bulldozer. Three lay down in front, and Bruce lay down behind. In a matter of seconds, Bruce became a martyr, and I became a widow with two small children — and we were no longer considered ordinary people."

Police ruled the death an accident. The crowd became so incensed over the death that they began to beat the bulldozer operator before officers restored order. Construction was halted for a time, but it was later completed after tensions eased.

Klunder is one of 40 civil rights leaders included in a Montgomery, Ala., memorial established by the Southern Poverty Law Center that includes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers.