Gene W. Tomlin’s story has come to an end, and what a
terrific story it is.
He was born June 17,1930 at the beginning of the Great
Depression in Twin Falls, Idaho to James Walter Tomlin and Edna Mae (Allen)
Tomlin. He joined brother Jim and was followed by brother Fred.
The family moved several times to follow the job
opportunities for James, originally a high school math teacher. Gene gleefully
regaled his friends and children with stories from his childhood in Acequia, Idaho,
and in Oregon in Crabtree, Vanport, and Portland.
His first paying job was shooting rabbits that had become a
major pest in the Acequia agricultural area. Imagine 3 pre-teen boys out in the
brush with a 22. The family spent several summers at the Allen farm near
Crabtree where he learned how to care for livestock and crops. He spent a few
summers there helping his grandad with the farm. He started working a paying
job as a boy delivering newspapers in Vanport where he learned an important
social lesson and delivering pies in Portland with his Uncle Monty where he
learned “The Cremation of Sam McGee”.
In 7th grade Gene did some research and started a
very active boy scout troop. His brother Fred was a close companion and in the
scouts with him. He worked in the summers at Camp Meriweather, Camp Baldwin,
and Duffy Lake. He also taught scouts
how to ski at Government Camp. He was on the Benson High School swim team and
started the high school skiing team. As a member of the student council, he led
an effort to grant the swim team the varsity sized letter for their sweaters.
After high school he worked as a lifeguard at Jantzen Beach
and for the Forest Service in the summers and attended college in Portland. He
was also involved in student government there and led a drive to change the
name from Vanport College to Portland State College.
Gene was in the Seabees (CB’s: Construction Battalion) then
in the National Guard and eventually was called up for active duty in the army
during the Korean war. He was stationed in Yuma, Arizona and had nothing nice
to say about the experience. This left his wife, Jean, and their daughter,
Linda, home alone for two years. This marriage did not survive the war. When he
got settled back home, Gene was able to use the GI bill to attend Oregon State
University where he graduated with a degree in Forestry. This led to a 35-year
career in the U. S. Forest Service.
While working on the Mt. Hood National Forest he met the
love of his life, Dorothy Jean Moehnke. They were married October 27,1956 and
lived in ZigZag where they welcomed their first daughter, Denise, the next year.
Six weeks later the family moved to Craig, Alaska so Gene
could work for the Forest Service on what would become the Tongass National
Forest.
Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959. In the fall of
1959, they moved to Ketchikan where their son, Daniel, was born in 1960. Gene
had many hunting, fishing, and working adventures in Alaska. He was very
involved in the Junior Chamber of Commerce (the JC’s) and helped build a new
Methodist church building. He and Dorothy made lifetime friends there who they
continued to visit throughout their lives.
In the spring of 1963, the family moved back to the lower 48
to Reedsport, Oregon where Gene worked on the Siuslaw National Forest. Their
second daughter, Jackie Sue, was born shortly after. Gene led a program to
stabilize the dunes by planting a variety of European beach grass.
The family and their friends spent many happy days
beachcombing and exploring the dunes. He worked part-time as a lifeguard at the
Reedsport Swimming Pool. He believed everyone needed to learn how to swim. More
lifetime friendships were made.
Then in 1968 Gene and Dorothy chose to buy an 8-acre
property in Sandy, Oregon. They wanted to raise their family in the country
rather than in town so they could pass on the life skills that they had learned.
Horses, cows, pigs, and a big vegetable garden kept everyone busy.
Gene was back on the Mt. Hood National Forest as a watershed
specialist working out of the Supervisors Office in Gresham. He had more
adventures doing stream surveys once a month and fighting forest fires as
needed. He continued to hunt and fish with various friends and added other
activities as the children became more active in school sports and clubs.
His early training in school and with the CB’s gave him
skills to build an addition to the house and build a barn with a lot of help
from friends and family. He passed down that “can do” attitude and training to
his children. If something needed to be done, Gene would learn how to do it and
then organize help to get it done.
Family vacations included several trips to visit their
lifetime friends across the country. When the kids started leaving home, he got
involved in other activities, including the Lower Columbia Canoe Club, wood
carving, planting a Christmas tree plot, and being an election official.
Gene retired in 1985 and continued to keep busy. His retirement
gift to himself was a two-week adventure on the Wenaha River with his dog, BJ
as his only companion. A yearly trek was made after that with family and
friends.
After several trips to New Hampshire to visit friends, he became
interested in sailing and decided to build his own boat. He worked on this
project for several years and even took a celestial navigation class.
Dorothy retired shortly after Gene so they could travel
about the country unencumbered by work schedules. They eventually bought a
trailer and a truck to haul it. Many trips were made to Alaska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma,
Colorado, and Arkansas by themselves or with friends and family.
Gene was very active for most of his life. A stroke in 2018
required him to slow down significantly. A second series of strokes in 2025
finally brought him to the end of his story.
For his 95th birthday he was surrounded by kids & their spouses,
grandkids and their significant others, great grandkids and Dorothy as they came
to the yearly firewood cutting/birthday party. It was a very good day for him.
He loved his family, and it meant a lot to him to have almost everyone there.
One week later, June 29, surrounded by his children, their
spouses, and his loving wife, he passed on to the next big adventure.
A memorial will be held August 24 at 3:00 at the 7th Day Adventist Church in Sandy, Oregon.