Pearl Harbor Survivor Lou Conter, Last USS Arizona Crew Member, Dead at 102

Brian Brant
·2 min read

Lou Contor's family plans to bury him next to his late wife of 45 years, who died in 2016

<p>Kent Nishimura/Getty</p> U.S.S. Arizona survivor Lou Conter stands in the shrine room of the U.S.S. Arizona memorial at the 71st Annual Memorial Ceremony commemorating the WWII Attack On Pearl Harbor at the World War 2 Valor in the Pacific National Monument December 7, 2012 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Kent Nishimura/Getty

U.S.S. Arizona survivor Lou Conter stands in the shrine room of the U.S.S. Arizona memorial at the 71st Annual Memorial Ceremony commemorating the WWII Attack On Pearl Harbor at the World War 2 Valor in the Pacific National Monument December 7, 2012 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Lou Conter, the last known survivor of the USS Arizona battleship, which sank during the attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102.

Conter died Monday morning at his home in Grass Valley, California, following congestive heart failure, his daughter, Louann Daley, confirmed to the Associated Press, NBC affiliate KCRA and CBS affiliate KOVR.

His family plans to bury him next to his late wife of 45 years, who died in 2016, per the AP.

Conter was a quartermaster and was standing on the main deck of the Arizona when the Japanese attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, per the AP.

"We took a 50-60-hundred-pound bomb alongside the number two turret," Conter previously told KCRA. "It went through five decks in the forward lower handling room and blew the power up there for the number one and number two turret, and the whole bow came up out of the water."

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Conter was one of the only 335 officers and crewmen who survived. 1,177 of the ship's crew were killed in the attack, according to KOVR.

According to the AP, the wreckage of the Arizona remains underwater, where it sank. More than 900 marines and sailors are entombed inside.

After Pearl Harbor, Contor served in three wars, flew in 200 missions as a pilot, and was even shot down twice, KOVR reported. He retired in 1967 after nearly 30 years in the Navy, per the AP.

Related: Longtime Friends Separated After Pearl Harbor Reunite 76 Years Later: 'There Was a Fabulous Kiss'

Contor would continue to visit Hawaii and reflect on the attack.

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“The 2,403 men that died are the heroes," Contor told the AP in 2022. "And we’ve got to honor them ahead of everybody else. And I’ve said that every time, and I think it should be stressed."

Related: Ken Potts, One of the Last Pearl Harbor Survivors, Dies at Age 102: 'Keep Their Memories Alive'

Conter wanted to make a final trip to Hawaii in December but didn't have the strength, KCRA reported. He had been in hospice for the last four weeks.

There are now only 19 living survivors of the Pearl Harbor, Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, told the AP.

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