Terry Klein was just a kid when he started helping his grandfather, Denny Lane, haul the Irish flag up the pole at the Clark County Courthouse each March 17.
That was back in the 1960s. Now Klein is a grandfather, and he is helping his own grandkids extend the St. Patrick’s Day tradition.
Thursday marked the 80th anniversary of what Klein and siblings Mike Klein and Kaye Masco call “Denny’s Day.” More than 40 family members and friends gathered at 9 a.m. at the corner of the Clark County Courthouse lawn for the renewal of the tradition.
At this point, the two Klein brothers and their sister have done more of these flag-raisings than their grandfather did. Denny died in 1965, more than a half-century of St. Patrick’s Days ago.
“We haven’t missed a day since Denny died,” Masco said. “Mom made sure we could raise the flag” each March 17.
Terry Klein, 62, described his grandfather as “a loyal son of Ireland and a proud adopted son of America.”
Denny Lane was born in County Limerick in 1876. According to his obituary, he came to Portland in 1902. A wealthy aunt set him up in a grocery business in Portland, Terry Klein said. Lane and his wife, Catherine, moved in 1920 to Vancouver, where he was hired as a constable.
The St. Patrick’s Day tradition started in 1936 when Lane saluted his native land by raising its green, white and orange flag over the courthouse lawn. It became such a civic ritual, and Lane became so prominent as a son of the Emerald Isle, that a local newspaper observed:
“Well, begorra, it’s St. Patrick’s Day and thanks to Denny Lane (whose letter appears elsewhere on this page), no one in Vancouver could escape that fact even if he wanted to.”
That was a Columbian editorial on March 17, 1960.
The letter cited in the editorial was another tradition. Lane would pen letters extolling the virtues of the Irish and their culture so the paper could run them each St. Patrick’s Day. In his 1960 letter, Lane observed how people in lands across the globe would be honoring the memory of a man who had lived 15 centuries earlier.
“That a man’s name, fame, character and teachings should be remembered after such a lapse of time is in itself a tribute not frequently matched in the annals of history,” Lane wrote.
In addition to honoring his grandfather’s tradition, Terry Klein has recently followed some of Lane’s personal path.
“Two weeks ago, we were in his hometown,” Klein said. “A second cousin took us to see Denny’s homestead, grade school and church.”
The visit to Abbeyfeale in County Limerick also provided an unexpected reminder of the Denny’s Day tradition. One of his Irish cousins showed Terry Klein a 64-year-old newspaper clipping that has become a family keepsake.
The Columbian’s story included a photograph of Klein. The 8-year-old boy was helping his grandfather raise the Irish flag on the Clark County Courthouse lawn on March 17, 1962.
