Evicted 94 year-old vet hopes for VA help

A 94 year-old World War II disabled veteran has been evicted from his apartment in Port Wing, because in part, he won’t say what’s in his safe deposit box.

After six months of trying to help Ken Nyreen, the Bayfield County Housing Authority had sheriff’s deputies evict him from his subsidized apartment. County Aging Unit Supervisor Carrie Linder says the 94 year-old refused to disclose all of his assets, including the contents of his bank safe deposit box. So Linder says they couldn’t look the other way, “If you do it for one, you do it for all. Is that going to keep the Housing Authority solvent? These are taxpayer’s dollars that we are stewards of.”

Although he was offered a free hotel room, he chose to sleep on the floor of a local tavern. He says the contents of his safe deposit box are no one else’s business, “Does anybody have a right? Why should I be forced to divulge my safe deposit box too? “Well, I won’t even say what I have in there.”

County Veteran’s Office Director Nancy Brede says they gave him seven choices of places to live, all away from Port Wing, but he refused, “Yeah, it is a tough case. I’ll do everything I can for him within my realm. When a person makes choices, and he’s his own person, I have to respect that.”

Nyreen is staying with an elderly widow in Port Wing now, so he’s safe. But this is only temporary. He’s hoping the Veteran’s Administration will take care of him, “If I could find a VA place where I could have my own room and associate with other GI’s, I might consider something like that. But I don’t want them to put me in bed and forget me.”

Brede says that won’t happen. She’s still checking in on Mr. Nyreen.