'Well-loved' Oakville resident gets a lot of help from friends

Event raises money for man fighting lung, liver cancer

By Diane Huber | The Olympian • Published September 01, 2008

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Relatives and friends of karaoke singer and Harley rider Stephen "Gator" Altree gathered Monday at American Heritage Campground south of Tumwater to support Altree, who is fighting lung and liver cancer.

"He and his wife are both exceptionally well-known and well-loved," said friend Steve McNally, who coordinated the fundraiser, which included music, an auction and a barbecue.

"He would do anything for anybody. He doesn't have a hurtful bone in his body," he said.

McNally's goal is to raise $50,000 to help the family with bills and travel expenses; the family must make the 175-mile round trip from Oakville to Seattle for Altree's treatment several times a week.

Doctors discovered cancer in Altree's liver, his lungs and elsewhere about a month ago and still haven't given a prognosis, said Altree's wife, Julie.

Friends and relatives say Altree, 66, has been a rock since the diagnosis.

"He's my hero," said daughter Karyn Bass of Coburg, Ore. "And not just now, for being so strong through all of this, but for my whole life, for just being who he is."

Altree of Oakville has lived in the area since the early 1980s and has four grown children and eight grandchildren, many of whom attended Monday.

Others attendees were friends from as far away as Las Vegas and California whom Altree knew from working as a truck driver.

Altree and his wife run regular karaoke shows at Rounders in McCleary and Kickstand Restaurant and Lounge south of Chehalis, near Napavine, as well as at private parties.

Altree has been known as Gator since the 1960s, when he was an ambulance driver in Eugene, Ore.

He and his business partner, nicknamed Wally, were named after a segment of a 1960s cartoon show, The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series, and the name stuck.

At the Labor Day fundraiser, supporters wore T-shirts with a picture of a gator, and children stuffed their own green gator toys.

Artwork, household items and jewelry were up for auction.

Two of the Altrees' Harley-Davidson also are being raffled to help pay for expenses.

Altree said he hasn't let the illness change his positive outlook. After the diagnosis, he had "I will survive" and a ribbon symbolizing cancer awareness tattooed on his forearm.

"That was just to let (Julie) know that I won't give up," he said.

"I'm just not going to let it beat me. It's not going to be easy, I know. It's a setback."