Ira "Ike" Schab, a Navy musician and one of the last living survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, died Dec. 20 at 105. Born July 4, 1920, Schab arrived in Hawaii with Navy Band Unit 13 about a year before the raid that killed an estimated 2,400 service members. In 2021 his daughter raised $15,000 to bring him and his caretakers to the USS Arizona Memorial for the 80th anniversary. Schab was the last surviving member of his band unit and urged younger generations to stay positive and cherish life.
Ira "Ike" Schab, One of the Last Pearl Harbor Survivors, Dies at 105
AP Photo/Audrey McAvoyIra Schab, Jr. who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor as a sailor on the USS Dobbin on Dec. 7, 2022, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Ira "Ike" Schab, a Navy musician and one of the dwindling number of survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, died on Dec. 20 at the age of 105, his daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs told the Associated Press.
Born July 4, 1920, in Chicago, Schab was the eldest of three brothers. He joined the Navy as a young man after struggling to find work following high school and served in Navy Band Unit 13. About a year before the attack, he arrived in Hawaii aboard the USS Dobbin.
Remembering Dec. 7, 1941
Schab later described the morning of the raid—which killed an estimated 2,400 service members and propelled the United States into World War II—in one word: "Terror." He recalled looking up and seeing a Japanese aircraft and worrying for his life and the lives of his comrades.
Pacific Historic Parks - USS Arizona Memorial/FacebookIra Schab, Jr. celebrating his 105th birthday.
"It means so much to go back. To be there. And to still stand," his daughter wrote after raising funds to bring him to Pearl Harbor for the 80th anniversary.
After the death of fellow bandmate Lee Ousley in 2015, Schab was the last surviving member of his Navy band unit. In 2021, Heinrichs organized a GoFundMe that raised $15,000 in two months so Schab and his caretakers could travel to Oʻahu and visit the USS Arizona Memorial for the attack's 80th anniversary. Schab told PEOPLE he felt "grateful" and "very humble" to make the trip.
In interviews later in life, Schab urged younger generations to enjoy life, avoid grudges and stay optimistic. He credited music—he had played since about age six—and the Navy's music school with giving him purpose and a career path.
Schab lived in Oregon in his later years. With his passing, roughly a dozen survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack remain, a reminder that firsthand witnesses to that pivotal day are rapidly passing and that preserving their stories grows increasingly urgent.
