William Clarence Peddicord, 60, best known as "The Blind Bomber", who confessed to the bombing of the Meier & Frank Co. in downtown Portland, Oregon, on April 15, 1955, died Saturday in Whittier. Calif. He was under treatment for a heart attack when he suffered a fatal attack. Peddicord and his sister-in-law, Joyce Keller, were charged with sending an extortion note to Aaron M. Frank. Mr. Frank was reading the note. which demanded $50,000, when 12 sticks of dynamite exploded in a third-floor restroom. No one was injured. The note warned that a second bomb had been planted and would explode if the $50.000 were not paid. Peddicord confessed to planting the bomb "just to scare them into paying up." He was sentenced to 20 years and was paroled in 1966 after serving 10 years. He was reported in 1972 to have left the state in violation of his parole. He was also convicted of mail fraud in 1958 and sentenced to five years in federal prison plus five years for contempt of court. Peddicord was born Sept. 18, 1917, at Fort Bayard, N.M. When he was two, his father, a civil engineer, brought him to Vancouver, Wash. He attended Vancouver High School but dropped out as a sophomore. He lost his sight in June, 1937, when a refrigerator in his parents home broke, releasing acid that seared his eyes. In 1948 he hitchhiked to New York for an operation that was only partially successful. Later he again lost all vision. He acquired a seeing eye dog, Duke, and gained national attention when he and Duke climbed Beacon Rock in the Columbia Gorge in 1938. Survivors include a son, William, Portland, by his first wife, Lucille (nee Dillabaugh) his second wife, Dorothy, Portland, and their children, Donna Merrill, Springfield, Marlene Siddal, Reno, Nev.; Air Force Sgt. Larry Peddicord, Hawthorne, Nev.; Evonne Merrill, Eugene; and Janet Peddicord, Seattle; and a daughter, Jean Marie, 7, by his 3rd wife, Mary Redmond, and by his widow, Venece, Whittier, Calif.; three sisters, Edith McCoy and Ethel Wilde, California, and Elsie Wilson, Reno, Nev.; a brother, Owen, California; and 11 grandchildren. Memorial services will be announced in Vancouver, Wash. The family suggests remembrance be contributions to Devers Memorial Eye Clinic, a non-profit foundation in Portland.
William Clarence Peddicord, 60, best known as "The Blind Bomber", who confessed to the bombing of the Meier & Frank Co. in downtown Portland, Oregon, on April 15, 1955, died Saturday in Whittier. Calif. He was under treatment for a heart attack when he suffered a fatal attack. Peddicord and his sister-in-law, Joyce Keller, were charged with sending an extortion note to Aaron M. Frank. Mr. Frank was reading the note. which demanded $50,000, when 12 sticks of dynamite exploded in a third-floor restroom. No one was injured. The note warned that a second bomb had been planted and would explode if the $50.000 were not paid. Peddicord confessed to planting the bomb "just to scare them into paying up." He was sentenced to 20 years and was paroled in 1966 after serving 10 years. He was reported in 1972 to have left the state in violation of his parole. He was also convicted of mail fraud in 1958 and sentenced to five years in federal prison plus five years for contempt of court. Peddicord was born Sept. 18, 1917, at Fort Bayard, N.M. When he was two, his father, a civil engineer, brought him to Vancouver, Wash. He attended Vancouver High School but dropped out as a sophomore. He lost his sight in June, 1937, when a refrigerator in his parents home broke, releasing acid that seared his eyes. In 1948 he hitchhiked to New York for an operation that was only partially successful. Later he again lost all vision. He acquired a seeing eye dog, Duke, and gained national attention when he and Duke climbed Beacon Rock in the Columbia Gorge in 1938. Survivors include a son, William, Portland, by his first wife, Lucille (nee Dillabaugh) his second wife, Dorothy, Portland, and their children, Donna Merrill, Springfield, Marlene Siddal, Reno, Nev.; Air Force Sgt. Larry Peddicord, Hawthorne, Nev.; Evonne Merrill, Eugene; and Janet Peddicord, Seattle; and a daughter, Jean Marie, 7, by his 3rd wife, Mary Redmond, and by his widow, Venece, Whittier, Calif.; three sisters, Edith McCoy and Ethel Wilde, California, and Elsie Wilson, Reno, Nev.; a brother, Owen, California; and 11 grandchildren. Memorial services will be announced in Vancouver, Wash. The family suggests remembrance be contributions to Devers Memorial Eye Clinic, a non-profit foundation in Portland.
