Pasadena family to bury WWII sailor identified 80 years after Pearl Harbor

Nancy Matzdorff’s earliest memory of “Uncle Ted” is a sweet one — literally. It was the summer of 1941 when he visited her parents in Los Angeles. She recalls him taking her by the hand and walking up the street to buy her an ice cream cone.

“I remember looking up at him and thinking how tall he was,” Matzdorff said. “But of course, I was only 3 years old!”

That visit became one of the few vivid memories she holds of her uncle, who soon left for service. Only a few months later, Chief Carpenter’s Mate (CCM) Ted McKinley Furr died aboard USS Oklahoma when Japan launched an attack on Pearl Harbor. Furr was 39.

Now, after more than 80 years, Matzdorff, a Pasadena resident and Furr’s primary next of kin, will finally have the chance to say goodbye. On Wednesday, Jan. 8, his remains, identified through a military DNA profiling project in 2015, will be laid to rest with full military honors at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, also known as “Punchbowl”.

“I am thrilled to have him finally identified and to be able to attend a proper funeral service at the Punchbowl,” Matzdorff said. “He can finally rest in peace.”

Furr was one of five brothers of Matzdorff’s mother, Grace Furr (Butcher), all of whom served in the U.S. Navy.

Born on Sept. 7, 1902, in Selma, Alabama, he enlisted at the age of 19 as a seaman apprentice and quickly rose through the ranks. Over the years, he served aboard a number of prominent battleships, including the USS New York (BB-34) and USS West Virginia (BB-48), among others.

By 1938, Furr was stationed aboard USS Oklahoma. The following year, he was promoted to Chief Carpenter’s Mate, a critical role overseeing the structural repairs, wooden construction and key ship components such as ventilation systems and watertight doors.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese forces launched a surprise attack while the Oklahoma was moored at Pearl Harbor. Multiple torpedoes struck the battleship, causing it to list rapidly before capsizing and trapping hundreds of sailors inside its hull.

Desperate banging of the trapped crew members could be heard for days, but despite the rescue team’s efforts, many lives could not be saved due to severe flooding and the complexity of cutting through thick steel in time. A total of 429 people, including Furr, lost their lives.

When the USS Oklahoma was flipped in 1944, only 35 of the 429 sailors and Marines who perished could be identified. The remaining 388 were buried as “unknowns.”  A 1947 attempt to identify more of the remains was unsuccessful and by 1950, the unidentified sailors were buried in 61 baskets in 45 graves at the Punchbowl.

In 2003, a single casket thought to contain the remains of five sailors was found to hold the partial remains of nearly 100 individuals, leading to “Project Oklahoma.”

Through this initiative, scientists with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began identifying unaccounted-for servicemen by matching DNA from family members. In 2015, the remaining caskets were disinterred for further analysis, and since then, 356 sailors have been individually identified.

“When briefing families, we often hear things like ‘my family did not believe he was dead’ or ‘he probably was not onboard the ship’ or ‘maybe one day he would walk through the door,’” Director of Navy Casualty Office Capt. Jeff Draude said. “Being able to recover and identify the remains of these sailors aids in the closure to these families.

For Matzdorff, that closure came in an unexpected and emotional way when she learned that “Uncle Ted” was among those identified after decades of uncertainty.

“All of Uncle Ted’s family are now gone. I had two aunts left; Aunt Mabel and Aunt Irma. They died at 102 years old,” she said. “I’m sure everyone had given up hope of identifying him after so many years. I only wish some of them were still alive to know about the identification.”

What she didn’t expect, however, was the sheer depth of what the Navy had uncovered–not just her uncle’s remains, but a window into his life and service.

“The binder, alone, is truly a treasure trove,” she said. “I can’t believe that the Navy has located all the letters and documents they have. There is even a love letter from an old girlfriend in San Francisco! I have read every page. And the details of the DNA findings are amazing.”

Matzdorff said she will be going to the burial service with her family, including her 13-year-old grandson, “(He) will learn a lot about that part of WWII,” she said.