David English, POW, teacher and historian

David Kirk English was an outgoing straight shooter who considered every day a blessing.

But even his wife of almost 60 years didn't fully understand the depth of his appreciation for life until a few years ago when, after continued pestering from his nieces and nephews, Mr. English sat down to write his memoirs.

He made 50 copies of the book he completed in 2002 for family members, chronicling for the first time the three years, four months and 19 days he spent in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps during World War II.

"He used to say, 'I am so blessed because I've outlived the time I thought I'd have here on Earth and I've had a very, very good life,' " said his wife, Alma English.

Mr. English was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in April. With his wife by his side, he died at his Lake Forest Park home on Aug. 25. He was 84.

Mr. English was a longtime Seattle teacher who also developed land, wrote a history book about Cannon Beach and manufactured the first highway signs to be erected on the Hood Canal Bridge and Snoqualmie Pass.

He was born Dec. 19, 1921, in Aberdeen and raised in Hoquiam. When his parents divorced, he and his older brother, Sam, delivered newspapers, cut wood, picked berries and peeled bark to help support their mother and younger sisters during the Great Depression.

After graduating from high school, he enlisted with the Army Air Force and — nine months before his 20th birthday — became one of the youngest men in the country to be promoted to sergeant. "That was a big deal in those days," his wife said.

After basic training in California, Mr. English was sent to Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines, arriving in Manila Bay the day before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

On May 10, 1942, Mr. English and hundreds of other U.S. servicemen surrendered to the Japanese and were shuttled between camps in the Philippines before being shipped to Japan to work as laborers. He ended up in Kawasaki, a camp high in the hills near Tokyo Bay that was the last to be found by U.S. forces at war's end.

Of the 70 men in his company who were taken prisoner, Mr. English was one of eight to live.

"He kept a diary until he ran out of paper," Alma English said. "His mother didn't know for a year after he was captured that Dave had survived."

On Aug. 11, 1945, Mr. English and his fellow prisoners found that their guards had disappeared and so used brightly colored bed mats to spell the word POW in the center of their compound. A Navy plane passed overhead, saw their signal and dropped a deck of cards from the cockpit with a message: Found you. Will be back soon.

They were rescued Sept. 29, 1945, and were back in the U.S. just before Christmas.

Soon after, at a dance hall in Grays Harbor, Mr. English locked eyes with a young bank teller named Alma Storseth and asked her to dance. They were married Oct. 1, 1947.

The couple moved to Ellensburg, where Mr. English majored in history at then-Central Washington State College. After he graduated, they moved to Seattle, where he began his teaching career, first at Cleveland High School and then Asa Mercer Middle School. He later spent 14 years at Ingraham High School teaching business law, accounting and typing.

To supplement his teaching income, Mr. English and a fellow teacher drained and logged five acres northeast of Kenmore, developing it into 14 lots.

They also got a contract from the National Interstate Highway System and created and installed the first signs on the Hood Canal Bridge and Snoqualmie Pass.

After retiring from teaching in 1978, he built a retirement home in Arch Cape, Ore. Splitting their time between Seattle and the Oregon coast, Mr. English and his wife wrote a 357-page history of the Cannon Beach area. The book's sales raised more than $20,000, which the couple donated to the Cannon Beach Historical Society.

"He was a real jewel. He was the most upbeat and enthusiastic man," said Connie Crow, a society volunteer.

In addition to his wife, Mr. English is survived by his sisters, Elizabeth Shandera of San Jose, Calif., and Irene Street of Aberdeen; and several nieces and nephews.

A funeral and memorial service are planned for 1 p.m. today at Acacia Memorial Park & Funeral Home in Shoreline, 14951 Bothell Way N.E. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to the Cannon Beach Historical Society, Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle or to a charitable foundation of your choice.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com