Starker Forests, Inc. Community Oral History Collection, 1973-2016

Arletha (Willis) Baumann (1912-2014) was born in Yaquina, Oregon and graduated from Eddyville High School in 1930. In 1936 she married Walter Baumann, with whom she raised five children. The family originally resided in Hoskins and later Wren, where Arletha remained for the rest of her life.

George Best (1923-2008) was born in Burtrum, Minnesota. In 1928, he and his family moved to Oregon, where his father worked in a sawmill. After serving in the Army during World War II, he returned to Oregon, where he married Lois Wooster and began a career in logging. Lois (Wooster) Best (1928-2024) was born in in Fountain, Michigan. In 1940 she and her family moved to Philomath, Oregon. With George she raised four children and worked as a bookkeeper at a local bank. The couple resided in Philomath and in rural Benton County on the Alsea Highway.

J.B. "Bev" Bielman (1917-2013) was born in Seattle, Washington. His family later moved to Beaverton, Oregon, where he attended high school and began to work in the logging industry. After graduating, Bielman continued his work as a logger. He was married twice, first to Alyce Walton, with whom he had four children, and later to Edith Hancock. He continued to live in western Oregon for the remainder of his life.

Gary Blanchard (b. 1939) was born in Hood River, Oregon. The son of a logger, Blanchard completed his Forest Management degree at Oregon State College in 1961, and was promptly hired by Starker Forests as the company's first full-time employee. Initially working as an assistant to T.J. Starker, Blanchard eventually rose to the position of Chief Forester and was responsible for overseeing all forest management and harvest activities conducted by Starker Forests. He stepped down from this position in 2007 to focus more intently on documenting the history of the company.

Monte Boggs (1924-2012) was born in Toledo, Oregon and grew up outside of Philomath. After graduating from Waldport High School in 1942, Boggs joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and then the U.S. Army, serving in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He returned to Oregon after the war, married Mabel Kikue Shoji, and purchased a farm south of Philomath, where his family lived for several decades. Boggs spent his early working years employed at multiple sawmills, and later opened his own business, Mainline Pump and Irrigation.

Dave Burwell (1918-1993) was born in New Haven, Connecticut. As a young man he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps and moved to Oregon to build roads. He enrolled in the OSC School of Forestry in 1937 and took classes from T.J. Starker. After graduating in 1942, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II. Upon being discharged he worked at Row River Lumber Company as assistant logging superintendent. He later moved to Roseboro Lumber Company, where he remained for 30 years.

Gene Cooper (1921-2022) was born in Robinson, Arkansas and attended school in Eddyville, Oregon. A long-time resident of Harlan, Cooper married Jessie Woodward in 1946. After high school, Cooper began a lengthy career as a logger. He spent his entire adult life living on land that he purchased in 1947. Jessie (Woodward) Cooper (1928-2016) was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from Eddyville High School, marrying Gene right after completing her studies. Over the course of seventy years living in the Harlan Valley, Jessie worked as a U.S. mail-carrier and school bus driver, and was active in her church and community. With her husband, she raised two children.

Cyrus Davis (1917-2012) was born in Blodgett, Oregon, attended Blodgett grade school and Philomath High School, and lived in Blodgett for his entire life. He married Ruby Schneider in 1939 and together the couple raised six children. Davis began his career in the timber industry at the age of 19, filling a number of roles in the years that followed, including timber feller and truck driver. An avid gardener, Davis was an active contributor to improving his hometown, helping to build the Blodgett Community Church and the Blodgett School gymnasium.

Don Davis (1922-2016) was born in Corvallis, Oregon and grew up in Blodgett, a member of a large farming family. In 1943, shortly after graduating from high school, he married Eunice May. The next year, he enlisted in the Navy and served until the conclusion of World War II. Don was a timber feller and log truck driver for most of his career and remained interested in the Oregon logging industry after his retirement. He and Eunice lived on a 32-acre farm near the Alsea Highway for 42 years before eventually moving back to Corvallis. Eunice (May) Davis (1923-2018) was born in Alpine, Oregon, also a member of a large farming family. She graduated from Philomath High School and married Don shortly thereafter. The had four children together, three daughters and one son, Donny Davis.

Ellen "Marie" (Ayres) Davis (1924-2016) was born in Kings Valley, Oregon. She married Willard Davis, a full-time logger, in 1941, and worked as a bus driver and custodian for the Blodgett School for seventeen years. Parents to four children, from 1970-1985 Marie and Willard also served as co-managers of the Benton County Fair.

Homer Davis (1924-2010) grew up on a farm near Corvallis, Oregon and graduated from Philomath High School. He then enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was deployed to Japan during World War II. After completing his term of service, Davis began working in the logging industry, a career path he would continue for the rest of his life. He worked as a truck driver for the Gee Logging Company and Fenner Logging Company, and later as an equipment operator for the Benton County Road Department, retiring in 1980.

Jim Denison (1927-2019) was born in Eugene, Oregon, and grew up in Salem and Klamath Falls. Denison gained his first work experience in the woods as a high school student, before enlisting in the Navy in 1944. Upon his discharge in 1946, he enrolled at Oregon State College to pursue studies in Forest Engineering, graduating in 1950. Denison held a wide variety of jobs in the timber industry, including as a consulting engineer, locating and running timber lines, and conducting timber cruises. He eventually formed his own company, Denison Surveying, that was based in Newport, Oregon. In the early 1990s, Denison and his wife created a second company, Coastal Land Management, that administered land surveying, timber cruising and forestry consulting projects. Betty Denison was born in El Paso, Texas in 1934 and moved to Oregon during her senior year of high school. She married Jim in 1966 and together the couple raised eight children and cared for twenty-seven foster children. Throughout her life, Betty's career focus was in accounting.

Boyd Eagleson (1922-2018) was born in Eddyville, Oregon and raised on a homestead property. After graduating from Eddyville High School he joined the Navy, fighting on the Pacific front during World War II. Upon his discharge from the military, Eagleson made a career in the logging industry, driving a truck and felling timber for Rex Clemens, Willamette Industries and DTL Logging Inc. He also operated his own logging business. Wilma (Davis) Eagleson (1923-2022) was born in El Dorado, Arkansas and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She married Boyd in 1945 and moved to Oregon with him. Together with Boyd she raised three children.

Ralph Eagleson (1925-2015) was born in Eddyville, Oregon and grew up on a farm with his four siblings. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in World War II. In 1947 he married Stella Gilmore, and together the couple raised four children. He spent his working years felling timber. Stella (Gilmore) Eagleson (1929-2012) was born in Toledo, Oregon. After graduating from Toledo High School, she married Ralph. A stay at home mother while her four children were young, Stella later worked as a library aide. The library at Eddyville School is now named the Stella Gilmore Eagleson Library in honor of her outstanding contributions as an employee and, in retirement, volunteer.

Richard Gassner (1924-2009) was born in Stayton, Oregon. He spent his childhood working on his family’s farm, before joining the Marine Corps after he turned eighteen. He married Dorothy Dallas in 1946. After leaving the Marine Corps, he entered into a career in logging, running his own company and also working for Starker Forests until his retirement in 2003. He and Dorothy likewise owned and worked on their family farm in Summit, Oregon. Dorothy (Dallas) Gassner (1927-2023) was born in White Salmon, Washington and raised on a farm. She married Richard shortly after graduating from high school and moved to Oregon with him, where she worked on their farm and raised their four children.

Andrew Gellatly (1925-2010) was born in Corvallis, Oregon and raised in Philomath, where he graduated from high school. From there, he began a career in logging and continued in that line of work until he retired. In 1951 he married Aileen Jondhal, with whom he had three children. He was a member of the Marys River Grange for more than sixty years, serving as grange master in his twenties. Dan Gellatly, a nephew of Andrew Gellatly, was born in 1960 in Corvallis. He graduated from Philomath High School in 1978 and, shortly thereafter, married Sandy Gurdie, with whom he had three children. Throughout his life he also worked in the logging industry.

Francis Gerding (1921-2023) was born in Corvallis, Oregon and graduated from Corvallis High School in 1939. He was drafted into the Army during World War II, where he was stationed in Africa and Germany. After returning to Oregon in 1946, he worked in his family’s grocery store, Gerding’s Market, until his retirement. Carroll (Lampert) Gerding was born in Portland, Oregon in 1928 and raised in Corvallis, where she spent her childhood helping her parents and siblings on their homestead. She married Francis in 1949 and raised six children with him. An avid gardener, Carroll has also volunteered widely in the Corvallis community.

Woody Holderman (1915-2010) was born in Wonnewic, Wisconsin and grew up in Marysville, Kansas, where he worked alongside his father at Armour’s Cheese Factory. After serving in the military during World War II, Holderman moved to Corvallis where he found employment repairing cars. In 1947 he married his Berneice Steely, with whom he raised a daughter, and in 1948 he began working for the Oregon State Game Commission as a trapper. He later moved into the position of stream clearance foreman and continued in this role until retiring in 1978.

Wayne Howard (1933-2023) was born in Decatur, Arkansas. A graduate of Philomath High School, he served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He married Beverly Cagle in 1955. Over the course of his working life, Wayne built houses, managed cattle and timberland, and farmed for over fifty years. Beverly (Cagle) Howard (1936-2016) was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma and graduated from Corvallis High School in 1954. She met Wayne at a baseball game and was married to him for over 60 years. Mother to two boys and a girl, Bev was also active with the local election and library boards.

Bob Kintigh (1922-2012) was born in Irwin, Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State University in 1943 with a degree in Forestry. During his stint in the Navy during World War II, he married Margaret Kilgore. Following his discharge, Kintigh earned a master's degree in Forestry from the University of California, Berkeley, and the family moved to Lane County, Oregon. In 1956, the Kintighs purchased a 170-acre property in the McKenzie Valley, where they established a ranch, earning a living by raising cattle and harvesting timber. Active in many professional organizations, Kintigh also served in the Oregon Senate from 1987-1999. Margaret (Kilgore) Kintigh (1921-2017) was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania and also graduated from Penn State. Married to Bob in 1943, Margaret raised five children, helped manage Kintigh's Mountain Home Ranch and was active in her church community.

Andrew Kittel (b. 1961) was born in Newport, Oregon, the youngest of eight children. His father was a gyppo logger and his mother a log truck driver. The family bought property on the Alsea River in 1955, where they grew crops and raised livestock. Kittel studied Business Finance and Industrial Engineering at Oregon State University, graduating in 1985. A former chair of the Alsea Watershed Council, Kittel has pursued a career in business development.

Paul Lorenz (b. 1933) was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He studied Forest Management at Iowa State University and, after graduating in 1955, he joined the military and was stationed for two years at Fort Knox in Kentucky. During his time in the service, Paul met his future wife, Patty Downey. Following Paul’s discharge, the couple married and moved to Oregon, where Paul worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Oak Ridge. In 1963 he moved into a position with the Oregon Department of Revenue’s forestry division and the family moved to Corvallis. In 1966 they purchased land near the Alsea River and started the Lorenz Tree Farm. Also the former owner of L&H Grading in Salem, Oregon, Paul provided the equipment for the construction of the original soccer surface at Oregon State University. In recognition of his contributions, the soccer facility at the university is named Paul Lorenz Field. Patty (Downey) Lorenz was born in 1938 and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. While a student at the University of Louisville she met Paul, and in 1958 the couple moved to Oregon. After settling in Corvallis, Patty and Paul raised four children, each of whom attended Oregon State University. In addition to family life, Patty was heavily involved in local Corvallis politics.

Paul Mortenson (1945-2013) was born in The Dalles, Oregon and graduated from Wy'east High School in Hood River. He enlisted in the Army in 1964 and was deployed to Vietnam shortly thereafter. After completing his tour of duty, he enrolled as a German major at the University of Oregon and worked for a time as an English language instructor in Germany. He later found employment with Starker Forests, working in road maintenance, rent management, and accounting, among other positions. He married Genie Sanderson in 1976 and together they raised one child. The couple also ran the Paul and Genie Mortenson Forestry Expo to expose students in the Philomath School District to forestry activities.

Linn Moser (1926-2011) was born in Philomath, Oregon. He joined the Navy after he turned eighteen, and served in the South Pacific during World War II. After returning to Oregon, he, his dad and brother created the Hoskins Lumber Company, and operated a sawmill for more than fifty years in the Philomath area. With his first wife, Roberta Rickard, he raised three sons. Ruth Moser was born in Gravity, Iowa, in 1934 and moved with her family to Philomath in 1941. She graduated from Philomath High School and married Ben Miller, her first husband, shortly thereafter, ultimately raising three children together. Miller died in 1984 and, in 1996, Ruth married Linn Moser.

Mike Newton (1932-2022) was an Oregon State alum - having completed a master's degree in Forestry in 1959 and a Ph.D. in Botany in 1964 - and also an emeritus member of the OSU Forestry faculty. Over a forty-year career at Oregon State, Newton conducted influential research on weed control in forested settings, work that took him to Vietnam in the early 1970s to investigate the biological impact of Agent Orange. Newton also led long-term studies focusing on competition between tree and plant species in areas of differing rainfall and soil type; tree growth in cold weather climates; and the cultivation of mature forests through managed thinning and harvesting. Jane (Webster) Newton (1929-2017), was born in Beloit, Wisconsin and traveled widely during her youth, as her father was a member of the American Diplomatic Service. She earned her nursing degree from Columbia University in 1952 as well as a degree in Elementary Education from Oregon State University in 1970. Married to Mike Newton in 1954, Jane helped raise three children, was a founding member of Oregon Women in Timber, and served as an active volunteer for many Benton County organizations.

Don Oakes (b. 1935) was raised on his family’s property near Monroe, Oregon. He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a logger upon entering adulthood, a job that he would continue for the entirety of his career. A former superintendent for Hull-Oakes Lumber, Oakes owns close to 1,000 acres of timber property in Benton County. With his wife, Donna, Oakes raised five children.

Clarence Richen (1912-2000) grew up in Helvetia, Oregon and attended Franklin High School in Portland. From there he studied Forestry at OSC, taking classes from T.J. Starker and graduating in 1935. He then moved into a research position with the Pacific Northwest Forest Range Experiment Station before returning to OSC as an instructor. In 1942, Richen joined Crown Zellerbach as a forester and worked his way up to vice president. He also owned and operated a tree farm near Clatskanie.

Marvin Rowley (1924-2017) was born in Portland, Oregon, and spent his early years in a community near Tualatin. He joined the Air Force when he turned 18, participating in combat in the southern Philippines. After the conclusion of World War II, he returned to Oregon, where he married his first wife, Marian Parker, and earned a degree in Forest Engineering from Oregon State College. From there, he pursued a career in forestry and eventually started a company with his brother-in-law called Rowley and Parker Tree Farm. He later purchased a 100-acre Christmas tree farm southwest of Philomath. In 1973, he accepted a position as manager of OSU’s McDonald Forest, retiring in 1986. After the passing of his first wife, he married Jean Pitts.

Russ Sapp (b. 1951) was born in Corvallis and grew up in Lobster Valley, Oregon. A descendent of Lobster Valley pioneers, Sapp graduated from high school in 1969 and enrolled in the Oregon College of Education. He left school to serve in the Army during the Vietnam War and, upon his discharge, began a career as a logger. Sapp also played guitar throughout his youth, a passion that continued into adulthood.

Walt Schmidt (1923-2017) was born in Corvallis and spent most of his life in the community. As a boy he worked in Schmidt's Red & White Grocery Store, which his father owned. He graduated from Corvallis High School in 1941 and two years later entered into war-time service as a member of the Army Air Corps. Following his discharge, he worked as a clerk at Whiteside Hardware before moving into the logging industry. Later he opened Schmidt's Hardware Store and subsequently Schmidt’s Garden Center, which he ran for over 50 years. Schmidt married Paula Beikman in 1948 and together the couple raised two children. In 2008, after Paula's passing, Schmidt married his second wife, Wilma Spees.

J.E. "Ed" Schroeder (1914-2010) was born in the north Santiam Canyon and graduated from Gates High School in 1931. Raised in a logging family, Schroeder studied forestry at OSC beginning in 1934, taking classes from T.J. Starker. He began working for the Oregon Department of Forestry in 1941 and was named State Forester in 1965, serving for fourteen years.

George Schroeder (1909-1992) was born in Vancouver, Washington and graduated from Jefferson High School in Portland. He began working as a landscaper for T.J. Starker not long after completing high school and later worked as a compass operator and map-maker. He also served the Oregon Department of Forestry as a firefighter and later owned multiple tree farms.

Thad Springer (b. 1924) was born on his family's property near Harlan, Oregon, and spent nearly his entire life on the land that his parents settled in 1919. Leaving high school during his junior year, he began working full‑time in the woods. After serving in the Army during World War II, he returned home, married his wife Beverly Schmid in 1946, and continued a decades‑long logging partnership with his brother. Beyond forestry, he contributed to community life by serving on the Eddyville school board, the Consumers Power board, and the Clemens Foundation board. His son Gary Springer (1948-2021), also spent most of his life on or near the family land in Harlan. A graduate of Eddyville High School and Oregon State University, Gary spent thirty years working for Springer Logging and an additional sixteen years as a policy analyst for Starker Forests. He was also active in a number of professional organizations related to forests and streams, and he was recognized with the 2017 National Society of American Foresters Fellow Award.

Barte Starker (1950-2017), a grandson of T.J. Starker, graduated from Corvallis High School in 1968 and from Oregon State University in 1972 with a degree in Forestry. He then entered into the family business and worked at Starker Forests until his retirement in 2015. Barte served on multiple forestry boards and committees throughout the state and was active as a philanthropist.

Bond Starker (b. 1947), also a grandson of T.J. Starker, graduated from Oregon State University in 1969 with a degree in Forest Management. With his brother Barte, Bond began managing components of the Starker enterprise as a formal partner in 1971. His responsibilities ramped up with the death of his father Bruce in 1975, and he ultimately rose to the position of Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. He has also served on numerous boards including the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees.

Jean Starker Roth (1920-2015), the daughter of T.J. Starker, earned a bachelor's degree in Home Economics Education from Oregon State College in 1942. She taught for two years after graduation at Blue River High School and then worked for the OSU Extension Service's Clatsop County Office for four years. She married Kermit Roth in 1948 and was an active Corvallis community volunteer, philanthropist, OSU supporter and executive at Starker Forests, Inc. For her efforts on behalf of the university, she received the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001.

T.J. (Thurman James) Starker (1890-1983) was born in Grenola, Kansas and raised in Burlington, Iowa. He moved to Portland, Oregon in 1907 and graduated from Oregon Agricultural College in 1910 as a member of the first Forestry class in school history. From 1909 to 1917, he worked for the US Forest Service and also, in 1912, earned a master's degree in Forestry from the University of Michigan. In 1917 he returned to OAC as a professor of forestry. During this time he also bought and gradually restored clear-cut forestlands. In 1942 he left Oregon State to concentrate on his company, Starker Forests, and by the time of his passing in 1983, his enterprise encompassed some 52,000 acres of forestland.

Elmer Taylor (1929-2015) was born in Corvallis and grew up on his family's farm in the Marys River Valley. He graduated from Harris Normal School in 1942 and from Oregon State College's Business and Technology program in 1950. He later became postmaster of Philomath before shifting to a career in the ministry and, later, the timber industry. He married his wife Dorothy in 1955 after meeting her at a Bible Institute in Portland.

Jim Vomocil (1926-2020) was born in Jacumba, California and raised on a farm in the Yuma Valley. After graduating from Yuma High School in 1944, he joined the Navy. During this time he met Agnes Cotter, whom he would marry in 1946; together, the couple would raise three children. Following his discharge from the Navy, Vomocil resumed his education in agronomy and soil science, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, a master’s from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University. In 1956 he joined the soil science faculty at the University of California at Davis, and in 1967 he moved to Oregon State University, accepting a position as Soils Extension Specialist. He retired from OSU in 1992.

Rex Wakefield (1911-1994) was born in Eddyville, Oregon and graduated from Eddyville High School's first class in 1929. He then worked for the Forest Service for five years before enrolling in the OSC School of Forestry, where he took classes from T.J. Starker. After that, he returned to the Forest Service until 1962, and then worked for Rex Clemens.

Parks Walker (1921-2011) was born in Georgia and moved to Oregon in 1935. After graduating from high school in 1939, he enrolled at Washington State College, where he studied forestry and earned a degree in Agriculture. He enlisted in the Navy during World War II and then studied management at the University of Washington. From there, he came to Oregon and worked for Spaulding Pulp and Paper, buying logs and pulpwood. He subsequently served as chief forester for Publisher's Paper, and worked for Western Wood Products after that. His final position was as property sales and procurement specialist for the Small Business Association in Washington, D.C.