Music legend Rusty Draper dies

Published 12:49 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

NORTH BEND – Farrell “Rusty” Draper and his wife Fay moved to North Bend for many of the same reasons their neighbors did.

The solitude and beauty of their Wilderness Rim home drew the couple who longed to get away from traffic, noise and the busy music business they were involved with most of the year.

The last reason may not have been shared by many Valley residents, but the pop and country music star always had a lot more in common with the Valley than with Hollywood.

His easygoing personality and famous voice will now be missed. He passed away on March 28 from pneumonia at the age of 80.

“He was just like anyone else,” Fay said. “He would have told you the same thing.”

Fay said that no matter how long she knew Rusty, she was always finding out about new parts to his life. What is for certain is that Rusty was born in Missouri in 1923 and got a guitar from his father when he was 10 that he never put down. By the time he was 12, Rusty told his mother he wanted to sing and be a music star.

After playing throughout the Midwest, Rusty – who earned the nickname because of his red hair – made his way west to San Francisco where he started playing bars and clubs. As he gained notoriety, he started to appear and host his own radio and television programs in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this week’s Valley Record