Lawrence Merriam,

Lawrence Campbell Merriam Jr. was born Aug. 31, 1923, in Portland. The family moved to Berkeley, Calif., in 1926, when Lawrence Sr. joined the National Park Service. When his father became superintendent of Yosemite National Park, Lawrence went to Mariposa High School, a 60-mile bus ride from the park. He graduated in 1941. Lawrence studied at U. C. Berkeley and at the University of Nebraska, and was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He joined the Navy during World War II and earned a commission as ensign from Columbia University in New York. He served in the Pacific Theater and was honorably discharged in 1946 as Lieutenant jg. He married Katherine Wagner of Los Angeles in September 1947, and returned to Berkeley to complete his Bachelors of Science in forestry. He then had 10 years of practical forestry experience with Long Bell Lumber Company, California, the Bureau of Land Management in Medford and Willamette National Lumber Company in Sweet Home. He appraised timber for the construction of Interstate 5, wrote park history and did park planning and development with the Oregon State Parks system and Highway Department. During this time, he returned to academics at Oregon State University, earning a master’s degree in forestry in 1958 and a doctorate in forest management in 1963. He taught forestry at the University of Montana, Missoula, for seven years, and then became professor of forest recreation at the University of Minnesota from 1966 to 1986. He wrote a number of magazine and professional journal articles, co-authored a forestry textbook and wrote one book entitled “Oregon’s Highway Park System, 1921-1989, an Administrative History.” In 1968, he conducted a national park feasibility study in Paraguay for the United Nations. He and his wife traveled extensively, including to many Elderhostels, and had a sabbatical year journey around the world. Lawrence and Katherine’s oldest son, Ken, was born with Down syndrome in 1950, and they founded the Oregon Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC of Oregon) in 1954. Lawrence was also on the board of the National Parks and Conservation Association in Washington, D.C., and involved with many conservation organizations throughout his lifetime. Larry and Kathie retired to Corvallis in 1986 and have been very active in community affairs. He was an early promoter of Greenbelt Land Trust, worked at the Benton County Historical Museum (and Horner Museum), helped with book sales for the library, contributed to the College of Forestry at Oregon State University and was on the board for Marys River Watershed Council and Benton County Parks Department. He was an avid stamp collector and active member of the First Congregational United Church of Christ. His children are Kenneth, Howard and Laura and her husband, Peter Armstrong, of the Twin Cities; Susan and her husband, David Graves, of Lafayette, Calif.; and Bill and his wife, Cheryl, of West Linn. His grandchildren are Carolyn Merriam Jenkins, Pierce and Matisse Merriam, Meredith and Grant Armstrong, all of the Twin Cities, Steven, Robert and Margaret Graves of Lafayette, Calif., and Kyle and Leah Merriam of West Linn. He has one brother, John Edwin Merriam, and his wife, CC Ramsey, of Washington, D.C., and several nieces and nephews. A service will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Greenbelt Land Trust, Box 1721, Corvallis, OR 97339, Benton County Historical Museum, 1101 Main St., Philomath, OR 97370-0035, First Congregational Church, 4515 S.W. West Hills Road, Corvallis, OR 97333, or Oregon Association for Retarded Citizens, 1745 State St., Salem, OR 97301.

Tributes

Lawrence Merriam,

August 31, 1923 - October 5, 2008