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The President's Message
(Continued from page 1)
life of our Association, and the more
we have the better it will be. Each
chapter has representation in the Gen
eral Council through its delegates and
has a chance to bring its ideas before
the General Council and have a voice
in determining the program that will
be most beneficial to its particular de
partment.
I had hoped to announce definitely
the formation of Chapter No. 17, to be
located in Portland, before the second
issue of "The Oregon State Employee”
was published. I can say that the chap
ter is being formed and will represent
employees of several state departments.
I hope to see all of the state depart
ments represented at our next meeting
of the General Council in December.
Meet Our President
Austin (Henry) Ford was born in
Highland, Wisconsin, in 1899 where he
lived until 1914 when his parents moved
to Pendleton, Oregon.
He attended high school at Pendleton
and after graduating went to Corvallis
where he studied Civil Engineering at
Oregon State College.
In 1918 during the First World War
he enlisted in the Navy, serving sixteen
months as gunner on the Battleship
Oregon and on the Destroyer McKen
zie. He received the Navy “ E” for gun
nery excellence and was discharged in
1919.
In 1921 he started with the Oregon
State Highway Commission as chain-
man and worked two years. In 1923 he
accepted a better position with the
Southern Pacific Railroad as scout level-
man. After a few months with the S.P.
he accepted a position on a railroad sur
vey crew in Mexico but due to a Mexi
can revolution was unable to get into
Mexico and after looking over some of
the southern and central states returned
to Oregon and returned to the Oregon
State Highway Commission as transit-
man. He advanced to the position of
Resident Construction Engineer and was
later promoted to District Maintenance
Superintendent in charge of the West
Portland district, which position he now
holds.
He is a member of the American Le
gion. He likes baseball and is a good
hunter.
He resides at his home in Portland,
Oregon with his wife and two sons,
Donald 14, and Robert 12.
Henry is making a very fine record as
president of our association. Since his
election in February, 1944, the member
ship of the Rose City Chapter of which
he is a member, has doubled.