February 2017
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 7
Bill Danner, longtime owner of Danner Boots, dead at age of 97
OBITUARY
By KC Cowan
The Southwest Portland Post
Anyone who went to Wilson High
School in the 1970s knew the Danner
family. They were hard to miss with
their flaming red hair and freckles.
They were, in order of age, Peter, class
of 1972, David, class of 1974; Nancy,
class of 1975; Craig, class of 1976; and
Michael, class of 1980.
Their family lived just down the
hill from Wilson High School, on
Burlingame Terrace, on the corner of
Terwilliger Boulevard.
Father, Bill Danner, was the
president and owner of Danner
Boots. Mother, Miriam Danner, was
a teacher.
Bill and Miriam instilled in all
their children (including three step-
children from Miriam’s first marriage
to William Crary) a love of education
and success.
Peter Danner works for Footwear
Specialties. Nancy is a teacher in
California. Craig is a physician
assistant and an author of two books.
David works for the Washington
State Utilities and Transportation
Commission, and Michael is a
Portland musician.
The Danner/Crary clan is now
grieving the loss of Bill Danner, who
passed away just after midnight on
Christmas Eve. Their mother had died
the prior month on Nov. 4.
“I think that he had spent 63
Christmases with my mother and
didn’t want to be without her on the
64th,” said David Danner, about the
timing.
Bill Danner was born in Chippewa
Falls, Wis., in 1910. His father began
the boot/shoe company there, but
was a bit of a mess when it came to
finances. Then a scandal forced him to
“suddenly” leave the state, according
to David, and so the family and
company moved to Portland in 1937.
Bill Danner served three years in
the Army Air Corps as a top turret
gunner during World War II. He flew
50 missions over Europe.
Becoming a shoemaker was not
his dream, but someone had to take
over the struggling business. He and
his brother stepped up and made it
succeed.
“Well, mostly it became profitable
because they were running it like a
business,” said David.
After his brother left Danner Boots
to become a lawyer, Bill Danner ran it
by himself until he sold the business
in 1983.
By then, it had become nationally
known for hiking and outdoor
recreation boots, as well as footwear
for lumberjacks and those in the
construction business.
One lightweight boot, the Mountain
Light, became a best seller after
getting rave reviews in Backpacking
Magazine. Over the years, the
company grew from six employees
to 75.
Danner Boots gained national
headlines when Bill Danner was
asked to make boots for an elephant
at the (then) Portland Zoo.
One elephant had arthritis and
could no longer keep from urinating
on her feet, causing infections. The
zoo asked Danner to come up with
boots to keep her feet dry. He did—
size 31—sporting the familiar Danner
logo.
Although a war hero and strong
businessman, his children remember
him as sweet and gentle. Family
always came first.
When he sold the business, Danner
gave each child a “share” of the
company, which Nancy Danner Jeu
remembers she and her then-husband
used for a down payment on a house.
“My father was the kindest, most
generous man I’ve ever met,” said
Jeu. “Every decision he ever made
was ultimately focused on his family
and, by extension, his employees who
he looked out for like family.”
Michael Danner noted the
generosity of his father. “The only
thing he ever bought for himself was
a new car every five years or so, which
his kids would generally proceed to
ding up even before the new car smell
was gone,” Michael remembers. “He
never got mad about it though. Just
the way he was—a very kind man.”
Peter Danner, senior development
Bill Danner sits with his wife of 64 years, Miriam , surrounded by their family.
(Photo courtesy of KC Cowan)
manager for Avenger Work Boots,
said his father truly was part of the
“Greatest Generation.”
“The war, family, business. He put
eight kids through college. Yet, he
was the most humble man you could
meet,” Peter said. “I visited him the
night before he died. He was just his
old sweet self. We’ll miss them both.”
Bill Danner is survived by seven of
his eight children, 19 grandchildren,
17 great-grandchildren, and one
great-great-grandchild. He is also
beloved by numerous AFS exchange
students and “unofficial extra kids”
(including this writer), who he and his
wife considered just more members of
the Danner family.
In February, the family will hold
a memorial gathering at Willamette
Manor, where both Bill and Miriam
lived their final years.
SELLWOOD BRIDGE
(Continued from Page 1)
Cannon reported that the project’s
commitment to an open, transparent
public process and a collaborative
funding approach helped create
momentum to push the project from
an unfunded problem to a completed
new bridge.
“More than 300 apprentices worked
more than 139,000 total hours on the
project,” said Mike Baker, of David
Evans and Associates, the project
owner’s representative. “The project’s
total workforce included 28 percent
minority employees, above our goal,
and 13 percent females, which was
slightly under our goal.”
Baker said that the project came in
a little over budget which was $325.1
million about 5.7 per cent above the
2012 pre-construction estimate.
Cannon noted a variety of
innovations including public
involvement of community members,
business owners, and school children.
“Moving the (old) bridge and
pursuing Green Roads certification
for the project’s sustainability features
was another novelty,” Baker added.
Baker announced that the new
Sellwood Bridge had just received
the 2017 American Council for
Engineering Companies “Project of
the Year” award.
For project information and a
history of the project, visit www.
sellwoodbridge.org.
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