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William Henry Brandt May 25, 1927 - January 21, 2025 Bill was born on May 25, 1927, to Marion P. (Shoults) and Henry M.G. (Hank) Brandt in Great Falls, Montana. Marion and Hank met in choir at the Presbyterian church in Great Falls and passed their love of music to their sons, Bill and Rodney. Bill had a robust Baritone voice and continued to sing throughout most of his life. He sang in Acapella choirs in high school and college, barbershop quartets, symphonic choirs in college, and while on sabbatical in New York City, he sang at Carnegie Hall with the St. Cecelia chorus. Bill met his wife, Jane Gaethke in Acapella Choir at the University of Montana. They later divorced. After graduating from Great Falls High School, Bill served in the Navy from June 1945 - Sept. 1946. He graduated from the University of Montana in 1950. While there, he earned letters in Track and Music. Bill attended Ohio State University earning a M.Sc. in 1951 and a PhD in 1954. After graduation, he was a research biologist for B.F. Goodrich. He served as a faculty member of the Dept. of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University from 1956-1990. He always believed teaching should be the central part of his job as a professor (not research, although he published 13 academic papers) and believed students learned best using a conference approach vs. lecture. He spent the 1969-1970 school year on sabbatical at Rockefeller University in New York. Following his retirement from Oregon State University, Bill developed an interest in western art, 18th and 19th century prints and the process of printmaking. He wrote and published Interpretive Wood-Engraving in 2009. He served on the Boards of Directors of the NW Print Council, Portland Art Museum’s Friends of the Gilkey Center, and the American Historical Print Collector’s Society. Bill was an avid outdoorsman. He was never happier than when he was fishing, camping, skiing, hiking or backpacking. He worked for the Forest Service during summers in high school and college. He was especially proud of the time he spent as a smokejumper and lookout. He climbed Mt. Hood, was a member of the Santiam Pass Ski Patrol for 11 years, and fished, camped, hiked and backpacked all over Montana and Oregon. He took his family on many camping and fishing vacations in remote parts of Montana. The more remote the better, as far as he was concerned. He went on several backpacking trips with his son, Eric, once being treed by a bear in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. He was ever proud of being a Montanan and had a closet full of snap button western shirts. Bill was a handy guy and had a garage full of tools. He taught his daughter to tune her Volkswagen Bug and built a camping trailer to haul all of the necessary camping gear on the many camping trips he took. He helped his son rebuild the engine in a 1966 SquareBack Volkswagen. Bill was a lifelong Republican and served as precinct committeeman, Chairman of the Benton County GOP and Chairman of the Arts and Sciences Division of Oregon GOP. He was a prolific editorial writer. Bill was always very responsible and safety conscious. When skiing, he would remind his children to “ski under control” and “fill in you sitz mark”. He wore a motorcycle helmet skiing long before others realized a helmet was a good idea. He installed shoulder strap seat belts in a 1966 Volkswagen SquareBack when they were unheard of and whenever one of his children left in the car, his parting words were “drive defensively”. Bill came to terms with the inevitable effects of living to be 97 after finding this quote: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” Attributed to Hunter S. Thompson. Bill is survived by his son, Eric Brandt, his daughter Ellen Chaimov (Greg), grandchildren Nick and Katie (Sam) and great-grandson Arlo.

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William "Bill" Henry Brandt

May 25, 1927 - January 21, 2025