IN Memoriam Bradley Haines “Brad” Jennings, store manager at Economy Lumber, Oakland, Ca., died Aug. 6 after a long fight with cancer. He was 61. He began his industry career with Foothill Hardware, Oakland, then spent many years with Truitt & White Lumber, Berkeley, Ca., before joining Economy Lumber in 2005. Betty Ann Ekenberg Foster, 86, pioneering Northern California lumberwoman, passed away July 20. She started her career in the forest products industry working for Masonite, Ukiah, Ca. On June 29, 1959, Betty became the first woman on the payroll of the Al Thrasher Lumber Co., Ukiah. She worked her way up to sales manager and was nicknamed Betty “Queen of the Redwoods.” Masonite acquired Al Thrasher Lumber in 1969. When they closed, Betty continued her career in the redwood industry, working with LP Rounds Reman, Redwood Empire Sawmill, Preston Lumber, and Tali-Pak Lumber & Milling. She was a member of the local chapter of Women in Timber as well as of the Ukiah Hoo-Hoo-Ettes—the women’s auxiliary of the then all-male local Hoo-Hoo Club. In 1987, Betty planted a vineyard in Redwood Valley, Ca., Elizabeth
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Vineyards, and soon after began making wine with the grapes. As she sold truckloads of lumber and it wasn’t surprising when a bottle or two went with the truck as a thank you. Her generosity also found its way on to tables at Hoo-Hoo functions, especially those of Black Bart #181. Robert “Jack” Burnard, former VP of purchasing for Forest Grove Lumber Co., McMinnville, Or., died July 21 at the age of 79. After graduating from Willamette University in 1964 (BS, chemistry) and Cornell University in 1969 (PhD, chemistry), Jack returned to Oregon to teach and do research at Oregon State University. In 1975, his father called and asked him to fill in at the family sawmill, Forest Grove Lumber, for an employee who recently resigned, saying he was needed for about two weeks. Jack filled the position and ended up staying with the company as it grew, moved and evolved for the next 35 years until the company closed in 2010. Jack was one of the inventors of Accuruff and pioneered several other innovations in processing and marketing lumber. In 2006, he was honored with the Portland Wholesale Lumber Association Lumberman of the Year Award. Harry Chester Bleile, longtime West Coast lumber salesman, died July 27 at the age of 96.
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After a semester at Oregon State University, he enlisted in the Air Corps on the day before turning 18. He served as a navigator for the 8th Air Force, 351 Bomb Group, based in England. After V-J Day, he returned to Oregon State. He began his 52-year career in lumber sales with Sterling Lumber, Redding, Ca., until he was recalled to serve during the Korean War. He then worked as general manager for a family-owned lumberyard in Bakersfield, Ca.; as marketing manager for Kimberly Clark Forest Products Division, and ultimately with P&M Cedar, Stockton, Ca.—until he was “downsized ” when he was 75. Harry helped found Redding’s Forest Museum. Warren Russell Weathers, 74, head of forest management consultancy W.R. Weathers & Associates, Lowell, Or., died July 30. He received a bachelor’s degree in forest management from Oregon State University in 1970 and a master’s of business administration from the University of Oregon in 1985. A certified forester, appraiser, tree farm inspector, and forest stewarship advisor, he worked for the Oregon Department of Forestry in Coos Bay and Pendleton, Or.; Schnabel Lumber Co./ Evergreen Logging, Haines, Ak.; and Shee Atika, Sitka, Ak., before launching his own company in 1982.
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