Edward Reynolds

Edward Jay Reynolds, 80, died Thursday in Palm Desert, Calif. He was the only child born to Jay Merritt and Minerva Jane Kiger Reynolds in Corvallis. The great-grandson of pioneers, Ed was a fourth-generation Oregonian and the fourth generation on the family farm. As a youth, he attended Fairplay School and then Corvallis High School. He graduated early in May 1945 from Corvallis High School to enlist in the Navy. In the Navy, Ed achieved the rank of fireman first class and served on the destroyer escort USS Robert F. Keller and the destroyer escort USS Moore in the Pacific. On the USS Moore, he sailed from Shanghai to Charleston, S.C., where the ship was decommissioned. He was then placed on a train to Bremerton, Wash., where he received his honorable discharge in August 1946. In the fall of 1946, Ed enrolled in Oregon State College, now Oregon State University, majoring in agriculture. Following in the footsteps of four uncles, he pledged to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, where he made many lifelong friends. While at OSU, he met a young, red-headed Chi Omega from Lake Oswego by the name of Jean Hall. After graduating in the spring, they were married July 14, 1951. The honeymoon was spent in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., Canada. Contrary to many rumors, they did not go fishing while on their honeymoon. Upon returning to the Corvallis area, Ed and Jean started a ranch south of Philomath on Belfountain Road, raising sheep and Angus cattle. After four years, Ed and Jean decided to get out of the livestock business and returned to the family farm to take over operations from Ed’s father, Jay. Ed started up a new business, Reynolds Oil Company, to take advantage of the down time in the winter by delivering heating oil. The company’s motto was “Let the Sheepherder Keep You Warm!” Harvesting grass seed crops in the summer and delivering oil in the winter kept the family busy. Still, they had time to go on road trips with friends all over the state and occasionally to Reno, Nev. In 1972, Ed decided to sell the oil distributorship and start expanding the farm. Beginning with only 90 acres in production out of 600 originally homesteaded, Ed spent the next 10 years clearing ground and making it ready for production. He expanded his crops from just grass seed to raising corn, beans, mint, filberts (hazelnuts), squash and building a seed- processing warehouse in the process. By the time he was done expanding, Ed was farming around 1,000 acres. In 1975, he and Jean purchased a half interest in a Cabana 28-foot motor home. Thus began a 22-year love affair with RVing. They covered the continental United States from coast to coast, usually traveling with a group of their best friends. They traveled with the RV as far as south as Cancun, Mexico and all the way up to Alaska. They also purchased an interest in a time share and spent a month of the year in Hawaii. In between the RV trips, they managed to travel around the word with stops in Europe, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and cruises in the Caribbean. In 1984, having seen much of the country by RV and never stopping for more than a week in one place, they discovered the Palm Springs area and fell in love with it. After 13 years of traveling to Palm Springs and staying in one spot for three months a year in their RV, they purchased a home in Palm Desert in 1997. Ed and Jean would spend the fall and winter in their new house, coming home in April so Ed could help out on the farm. Ed never truly retired. He stayed involved in the farming operation, helping out where he could. He loved to drive tractors, especially the combine during harvest. Ed was always happy to make some room for his grandchildren, who frequently “helped” their grandpa work. He ran the combine during harvest last summer as an 80-year-old and did a bang-up job. Ed was also an avid hunter and fisherman. Sometimes he would cut short his stay in Palm Desert to get home because there was a good tide for clamming in Washington. Ed and Jean spent many springs up in Canada salmon fishing. He spent many years hunting pheasants in southeastern Oregon and duck hunting on the farm. In one of his recent trips to Eastern Oregon, he got to see his grandson get his first pheasant, and that milestone made his whole trip. Ed was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Al Kader Shrine Temple, the Corvallis Elks Club and, since 1954, the Corvallis Country Club. He was an avid Beaver supporter and member of the Beaver Club (BASF) since 1952. He held football and basketball season tickets since Gill Coliseum and Parker, now Reser, Stadium were built. Ed is survived by his wife, co-pilot and navigator of 561/2 years, Jean; son and daughter-in-law Kenny and Heidi Reynolds; and grandchildren Cole Merritt Reynolds, Luke Edward Reynolds and Megan Grace Reynolds. A service to celebrate Ed’s life will be at 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 11, at McHenry Funereal Home chapel. Following the service, the family is hosting a reception to greet friends from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Corvallis Country Club. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to either the OSU Athletic Department for the OSU baseball program or the Shriners Children’s Hospital in care of McHenry Funeral Home, 206 N.W. Fifth St., Corvallis, OR 97330.

Tributes

Edward Reynolds

June 7, 1927 - April 3, 2008