September 13, 1921 to April 1, 2024

Louis Anthony Conter (Lou) passed away peacefully at his home in Grass Valley surrounded by family April 1, 2024.

Lou was born September 13, 1921, in Ojibwa Wisconsin to Lottie and Nicholas Conter.

Lou had five sons, John, Tony, Michael, Jim, Jeff, and daughter Louann, and stepson Ron, eleven grandchildren, twenty great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.

Lou was proceeded death by his beloved wife Valerie, two sisters Esther and Mary, and two sons Michael and John and grandson Ryan.

Lou joined the navy in 1939 at the age of eighteen and went to boot camp in San Diego, CA. From boot camp, Lou was assigned to the battleship USS Arizona. Lou was the last living survivor of the USS Arizona from the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 that killed 1177 of his shipmates. After Pearl Harbor Lou went to flight school in Pensacola, FL and receive his wings in November 1942 and was assigned to VP-11 PBY Black Cats. Lou flew over 200 missions in the South Pacific where he also survived being shot down twice. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (for valor) for a mission that rescued 219 Australian Coastwatchers over the course of three days in December 1943. Lou went to the War College in 1948-9 and would go on to become an Air Intelligence Officer. Lou served on the USS Bon Homme Richard in 1951 in the Korean War and flew 29 missions before they grounded all AIO. Lou went to US Army Special Forces training at Fort Bragg, NC 1953 and would become the Navy’s first SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, escape) in 1954 where he would go on to set up survival schools all across the globe. Lou was part of a five man commission sent to Vietnam to conduct a comprehensive assessment and during a meeting with President Kennedy, the group advised him that an escalation of the war was not in the best interests of the United States. Lou retired from the Navy after 28 years in 1968.

After the war Lou was a successful rancher and real estate broker in California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon over sixty five years.

Lou enjoyed playing golf and spending time with family and friends.

Funeral Mass to be held at

St. Patrick’s Church in Grass Valley, CA on April 23, 2024 at 1030am.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to: Pacific Historical Parks for the continued Restoration of the USS Arizona Memorial, 94-1187 Ka Uka Blvd., Waipahu, HI.