Floyd Holden died sure of two things: He and his wife, Bea, had honored their country with lives of service. And Bea would be provided for with his life insurance policy from the U.S. Army.

Nothing could change the first.

A clerical error and a new policy smashed the second.

Now Bea Holden lives in her Lakewood apartment unable to hear a knock at the door, a message on the phone or her disabled son calling from downstairs. She can’t afford the $2,800 hearing aid that would allow her to do so.

Holden has almost worked out of the financial catastrophe that hit after her husband died Nov. 16, 2006.

But, as things are, she will never hear a sermon at her beloved post chapel again.

Holden never expected life to be easy.

“I was born in Clovis, New Mexico,” she said. “We were on the edge of the dust bowl. At school, dust would come in so thick, you couldn’t see the blackboard.”

As a young woman, she met two soldiers stationed nearby: Floyd Holden and his best buddy.

She married the buddy, the charmer, before he and Holden were sent to Europe to fight World War II. Ten years and two sons later, she divorced him when she discovered how widely he was spreading that charm.

When Floyd heard, he proposed.

They moved 44 times during his Army career. Their Army career.

Wherever they lived, she volunteered in military hospitals and as a den mother in scout troops. In 1991, she earned the Boy Scouts’ Silver Fawn (now the Silver Beaver) award. This fall, she’ll hit her 68th anniversary as a scout volunteer. The scouts have named an award after her.

In 1972, after two tours in Vietnam, Floyd retired as a staff sergeant. They had agreed to buy life insurance through the Army. That, Bea said, is what Floyd told the person processing his paperwork.

That person checked the wrong box.

The Holdens did not notice that the small amount was not being taken out of their check, which was about $3,000 a month.

“Floyd thought I would be well taken care of,” she said.

After he died, Bea gave his clothing, his hearing aid, even his dentures, to needy veterans. He wanted that, she said.

While she was grieving and settling affairs, she did not know the Army was recalling that month’s $3,000 payment to Floyd. She did not know her rent check, her car payment and half a dozen other checks were bouncing, plunging her into more than $600 in overdraft fees.

She learned about the clerical error that had left Floyd uninsured, but got no help when she pursued the matter. The military made the mistake, but the widow would pay.

The dealer repossessed her car. The landlord was patient about back rent. She and her son lived on peanut butter sandwiches for two months. Creditors kept calling. She sank into what she called a black hole.

Someone noticed, and contacted a program called Helping Elders though Referral and Outreach Services. The HEROS program is run by Good Samaritan Hospital and MultiCare Health System. It sent Debbie Seelye to help Holden.

Seelye got money to pay rent. She negotiated with creditors. She even did laundry for Holden, and connected her to services.

She pulled the Army widow out despair. Then, after a dental infection, Holden lost most of her hearing.

“It’s like living in a box, and everything is going on around you,” she said.

The military medical insurance she retains covered hearing tests but, per an April 2007 cutback, it won’t pay for the hearing aid she needs. Seelye cannot find an affordable payment plan for Holden, who lives on $1,500 a month.

Seelye is a tiger when she fights for her clients. She has scoured resources, and found a gap between seniors and the medical devices they need. She’s beaten, and she’s angry.

Holden served her country all her life and never asked for payment. She survived the disastrous results of the Army’s clerical error. At 85, she has rebuilt her life from ruins.

Now, for the lack of coverage or a payment plan, deafness is isolating this American heroine.

Seelye is right to be outraged. Call her at 253-697-8543 if you’re outraged, too, and want to help.

Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677

kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com