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QUIRE
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CHAPTER
EIGHT
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The Quest for the Hall Chronicle, Part One
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The
Oak Harbor Hall History
1
(Go to
photo gallery.)
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JUST AS IT HAS BEEN TRUE for all of God′s people throughout history in all aspects of their worship, it remains true for his people in these modern days. So, in keeping with the past records of God′s people, it is necessary today to give all praise and glory to Jehovah God for the accomplishments of his present day witnesses, whether individually, in groups or as a whole.
(Isaiah 43:10)
For without His backing and direction through Holy Spirit, we would be hard pressed to achieve anything, let alone all the planning, scheduling, thought and work that goes into building a new place of worship for Him. Further, without his support, none of what is being planned could be done nor would any of the numerous volunteers be motivated to perform to their full abilities.
Therefore, this narrative shall henceforth be called The Oak Harbor Hall Chronicle
and like the Hall itself, this chronicle is dedicated to the true God, Jehovah and may we all be worthy of his great and holy name.
(1 Samuel 12:22)
Furthermore, this chronicle will begin in this chapter with a narrative history of the events and activities of Jehovah′s Witnesses on the north end of Whidbey Island, particularly those of both the Oak Harbor and Coupeville Congregations.
Too, there must needs be photos to accompany this chronicle and therefore will include those photos associated with The Oak Harbor Hall Chronicle in the text of the chapters. To start the photo gallery, it would be appropriate to photograph the existing hall prior to it′s removal and include these photos here in this first chapter.
Finally, upon completion of The Oak Harbor Hall Chronicle, I hope to be able to publish it in it′s entirety on this web site to preserve at no charge for any who wish to read the text or view the photos.
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Early Beginnings
Among the earliest witnesses on Whidbey Island were Harold J. Heckman and his wife Gertrude who moved here in the late 1920’s. They and their three sons, James, Dave and John called on virtually every home in Oak Harbor, in much the same manner that Jehovah’s Witnesses call on people today, knocking on their doors and offering Bible literature and free home Bible studies.
One of the persons that Sister Heckman studied with was Lily Murray who had moved to Oak Harbor from eastern Washington. In the 1940′s, the witness on Whidbey Island consisted of two groups. The northern part of the island, which included Oak Harbor, was assigned to the Anacortes congregation and the southern part of the Island was set up as the Langley congregation.
After the death of Sister Heckman′s husband’s Harold in 1953, Gertrude Heckman remained in Oak Harbor until 1962. Her three sons served locally many years in the full time ministry. During this time, many of the witness families offered their homes as a focal point of both the door-to-door ministry as well as for the Bible study meetings that were held on Tuesday evening and some Sundays.
Since the Oak Harbor Bible study group was associated with the Anacortes, WA Congregation of Jehovah′s Witnesses, additional meetings were held in Anacortes Hall on Friday evenings and every Sunday.
During the 1940’s and 1950’s, the home of the Reinstra family, which was near City Beach served as a meeting location, but it later burned down. Until the mid 1960’s, there were only a handful of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Oak Harbor area.
The Arrival of Help
It was soon thereafter that several families moved to Oak Harbor to assist with the door-to-door ministry and the home Bible studies. Included were the Fisher′s and the Machuga′s who moved up from Tillamook, Oregon and the Luellen′s.
Later, the home of sister Lily Murray
2 served as the site for public Bible lectures on Sunday, followed by a Bible study using the Watchtower magazine as the subject guide for all interested ones on the north end of Whidbey Island. Also, on Tuesday evenings, the Bible study group met at her home for the weekly Bible Study.
Attendance at these meetings grew steadily as more witnesses came to the area and interest from the Oak Harbor area continued to be fruitful. It did not take too long before it became apparent that a new meeting location was necessary, so the Learn and Play Kindergarten building was rented for Sunday meetings. In 1970, still larger accommodations were needed so the I.O.O.F hall was then rented.
A New Congregation is Created
Then by early 1973, the attendance at the Sunday meeting was running between 80 and 100 persons and the witnesses, who were still a part of the Anacortes congregation began to ask for the creation of an all new congregation.
Then, in April 1974, the United States Branch sent the authorization for the Oak Harbor Congregation to be formed. The territory of this new congregation would be from the Deception Pass bridge to Greenbank. Greenbank is located in the south end of Whidbey Island and below Greenbank would be included in the Langley congregation.
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The
First Kingdom Hall in Oak Harbor
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The most pressing business of the fledgling congregation was the construction of a new Oak Harbor Hall. A property was purchased on 65th Street NE, an address which was subsequently changed by the city and has now become 301 NE Ronhaar Street. The ground was cleared on Wednesday, the 8th of May 1974, only weeks after receiving official congregation status.
It was an exciting time, the witnesses in Oak Harbor had waited for such a long time to have their own Hall and now the time was near for them to have a Hall. Historically, it had always been up to the local witnesses to organize, fund, equip and build their place of worship.
All Volunteer Workers
All of the workers volunteered their labor, most helping on weekends and even many from many nearby congregations came to help with the building of the hall.
3
Soon, the volunteers from Oak Harbor and other congregations began the construction of the new Oak Harbor Hall. Every thing from digging the foundation, pouring the concrete, framing the walls, to the electrical, plumbing, and pounding the nails on the cedar shake roof was accomplished by the witnesses, often unexperienced in the necessary trade.
Many were taught the needed skills on site and the Hall was near completion by the end of that summer. In just about four months after the first shovel was put to the new property, the Oak Harbor Hall was completed, well, except for the carpeting and draperies.
During construction of the first Oak Harbor Hall, the congregation’s presiding overseer was Marvin Luellen, a brother who was faithful until his death in 1995.
On Sunday, the first day of September 1974, the Oak Harbor Kingdom Hall was dedicated to Jehovah God as a place where his worship would take place for all of north Whidbey Island.
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The
Remodels on the Old Hall
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The Remodels on the Old Hall
In 1981, a remodel project was completed to extend the length of the auditorium, add a wing for a small library and expand the bathrooms of the Hall.
It would not be long before there was a need for an additional congregation in Coupeville which congregation was formed in 1986. The Oak Harbor Hall was used by both congregations from 1986 until 1995 when a new Hall was built on Morris Road, south of Coupeville for the Coupeville congregation.
In the 1990′s, the Hall’s landscaping was upgraded and several maintenance projects were done, including a new roof and painting of both the inside and the outside of the Hall.
The Parking Lot
In the late 1990′s, local brothers used roll-on top coat to resurface the parking lot on two occasions and painted spaces on the asphalt.
In 2001, the brothers decided to upgrade the parking lot lighting by installing two light poles in the partition in the middle of the parking lot.
A Second Congregation at Oak Harbor
The Oak Harbor Spanish Congregation began as a study group early in the first decade of the new century. During April of 2008, the Spanish Congregation was formed which created the second congregation at the Oak Harbor Hall.
At first there were only a small number of brothers and fewer elders so several in the Oak Harbor English Congregation transferred to the Spanish including two elders and their families. Some from the Anacortes English Congregation had previously transferred to the Oak Harbor Spanish Congregation.
A Fresh Coat of Paint
In March of 2008, with the help of the RBC, there were a large group of volunteers both from the local congregations and other surrounding congregations that gave the Kingdom Hall and fresh coat of paint, primarily the interior but the exterior also got a touch up.
The Hall on 26 March 2012
The Hall just before the start of the project to build a new Kingdom Hall on the same property, a project which will begin with the removal of this building.
(m7-wa-cons-oakharbor-2012-0326.1613) Oak Harbor Kingdom Hall, built c. 1974
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This Page Last Updated: 30 April 2026
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