FEBRUARY 13, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
Group still looking
Mark William Garvey to redo skate park
obituaries
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Orville Downer
May 10, 1937 – February 5, 2015
Orville Downer was born
in Roscoe, South Dakota May
10, 1937 to William and Elodie
Downer. He moved with his
family to Salem on his 12th
birthday. He attended Buena
Crest Elementary and Salem
Academy, where he graduated
in 1955. He married Geri
Gale in 1958 and they had fi ve
children. After a long illness,
he died on Feb. 5, 2015 at his
home.
Orville was an entrepreneur
in the agriculture industry,
including farming, custom
harvesting, custom fertilizing,
hydraulic sales, and grain bin
sales. In January 1963 he joined
the Brooks Fire Department.
By the end of that year he was
promoted to captain and after
another year assistant chief.
In 1968 Brooks merged with
Four Corners and together
they became Marion County
Fire District No. 1. Orville
was deputy dhief of the
North Battalion and led the
district in that capacity for 27
years. He resigned in 1995 to
serve on the Marion County
Fire Board of Directors until
posting his resignation 20
years later, in January of this
year.
Orville loved to serve the
community and was on sev-
eral boards. He had a passion
for snowmobiling, stock car
racing, and ran a dirt track
for three summers in Yreka,
Calif. He was member of the
Capital Park Wesleyan Church
from 1949 through 1973 and
the Salem First Church of the
Nazarene until
his death. Or-
ville had many
community
friendships
and had sev-
eral close life-
long friends.
O. Downer His home was
open and be-
came a place of welcome…
sometimes people just stayed.
He had a special place in the
farming community of the
mid-Willamette Valley. He
was often called upon in crisis
and responded day or night to
those with a need.
Orville was preceded in
death by his father, mother
and sister Joyce Downer
Imel.
Survivors
include
his wife Geri, sister Velera
Vreugdenhil, (Ralph) of
Puyallup, Wash., children
Kathi Kinnaman (Greg) of
Hillsboro, Michelle Truax
(Tony) of Buckley, Wash.,
Steve Downer of Brooks,
Sandi Beck (Doug) of Aurora
and Mike Downer (Tiina)
of Keizer, eight grandsons,
three granddaughters and
four great-grandchildren. A
memorial service will be held
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2 p.m.
at Salem First Church of the
Nazarene.
September 20, 1967 – February 3, 2015
Mark William Garvey, de-
voted husband, ever-pres-
ent father, loving son, car-
ing brother and loyal friend
went to his eternal home to
be with his Heavenly Father,
surrounded by his family and
friends on Feb. 3, 2015. He
was 47.
Mark is survived by his
wife, Debbie, his son, Lucas,
his daughter, Alyssa, as well as
his parents, Bob and Marlene
Garvey, his sisters, Lisa and
Laura, his in-laws, Bob and
Earlene Beko, and his siblings-
in-law, Darren, Tony, Jillice,
Chris and Kim, in addition to
his six nieces and nephews.
Born and raised in Lake
Oswego, Mark graduated
from Lakeridge High School
and received his bachelor’s
degree in business at Linfi eld
College.
Mark and Debbie met in
1989 and four years later be-
gan their 22-year marriage
and started their family, the
main priority and source of
joy in Mark’s life.
Mark was a man of great
strength – strong in his faith
in Christ, his dedication to his
wife and his support (and own
volunteerism) with her work
at The Boys & Girls Club,
his commitment to serve as a
coach, friend and courageous
example to his two children,
his loyalty to his 19 years of
work at Country Financial,
his maintenance and pursuit
of real and lasting friendships,
and unbelievably strong in his
17-year battle with a rare form
of cancer.
This battle
does n ot de-
fi ne
Mark’s
life, but only
shows the re-
lentlessness
with which he
M. Garvey pursued
and
appreciated
each moment of it. Mark’s zest
for life, his refusal to complain
or quit and his ability to fi nd
humor in even diffi cult cir-
cumstances will leave a last-
ing legacy for all who were
blessed enough to know and
love him.
Services will be held on
Monday, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m.
at Dayspring Fellowship in
Keizer.
Donations may be made,
in memory of Mark, to the
Boys & Girls Club of Salem,
Marion and Polk Counties or
a contribution may be given
to the education fund set up
for the Garvey children at Pi-
oneer Trust Bank.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Plans to renovate the Carl-
son Skate Park at Chalmers
Jones Park behind Keizer Civ-
ic Center are one step closer.
That doesn’t mean any-
thing is guaranteed, however.
In November, Keizer’s Joe
Bazan teamed up with the
owners of Lincoln City-based
Dreamland Skateparks and
came to a Keizer Parks and
Recreation Advisory Board
meeting with a request for
help in renovating the skate
park, opened in July 1999 but
maintained little since then.
The original request at the
time was for $12,000 of the
Parks Board’s matching grant
program funding to help pay
for the project. Then-chair
Brandon Smith called for a
decision to be postponed at
the time.
In the time since that No-
vember meeting, Bazan has
worked with former Parks
Board member Jason Bruster
to revise the request.
Thus, Bazan attended Tues-
day’s Parks Board meeting and
requested $5,000 in matching
grant funds. That would be
in addition to $25,000 Bazan
hopes to raise in private cash
or material donations, plus an
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estimated $2,800 in labor.
“We’re asking the Parks
Board for $5,000,” Bazan said.
“Jason Bruster explained it all
to me how it would work.”
Parks Board member Rich-
ard Walsh wanted to make sure
he understood the request.
“You’re asking, in sum-
mary, for $5,000,” Walsh said.
“You’re representing that you
will match with $25,000 in
cash, materials and sponsor-
ships. You’ll also have work
value of $2,800. So Keizer
citizens will receive a project
worth $32,000.”
Bill Lawyer, Public Works
director for Keizer, said the
work would need to be done
before the city pays project
leaders the $5,000.
“The project needs to be
completed before reimburse-
ment,” Lawyer said.
Marlene Quinn, the Keizer
City Councilor who serves
as the council liaison to the
Parks Board, pointed to an
added benefi t of the project.
“Remember that the price
includes maintenance,” Quinn
said. “The whole cost to the
city would be $5,000 for re-
doing the whole thing and
maintenance. In the October
submission, the lady helping
them, Danyel Scott, said this
price includes maintenance.”
Even if more is spent down
the road for maintenance,
Quinn felt it was a worth-
while use of funds.
“This is still a pretty cheap
project to us,” she said.
Bazan noted the mainte-
nance hasn’t been done since
1999, which means the facil-
ity is hard to use. Skateboard-
ers and bicyclists alike use the
facility.
“The skate park hasn’t been
kept up for more than a de-
cade, so it’s in rough shape,”
Bazan said.
In his revised November
proposal, Bazan wrote about
why he started what he’s call-
ing Project Lift.
“Since I was 15 I’ve been
going to the Carlson Skate
Park or, in my opinion, a
poorly made death trap,” Ba-
zan wrote. “I can appreciate
that we have a skate park and
this is where I learned how to
skate, but the problem is that
you can easily get hurt for the
fact that it hasn’t been main-
tained correctly and wasn’t
built right. The point I’m get-
ting at is it’s time to fi x the
Carlson Skate Park and also
make it challenging for those
who go.”
Bazan wrote that there are
“cracks forming everywhere”
and added the skate park
wasn’t built correctly.
“The majority of the park
has no real transition, a lot of
obstacles weren’t positioned
correctly and they added
pointless things,” he said.
Lawyer said he wanted to
see more specifi cs about the
proposal.
“I need to know what the
plan is,” Lawyer said. “I want
to know what additions and
repairs are being proposed. I
need to know details. I want
to make sure that is clear.”
Bazan’s proposal calls for
work to start in August, with
an estimated completion date
of August 2016.
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