BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022 A3
LOCAL & STATE
Deputy
Continued from A1
Before he reached the highway a
truck pulled up.
The driver asked McKibben if he
needed help.
The driver was Dennis Lefever, a
corporal with the Baker County Sher-
iff ’s Office. He was off duty.
Lefever and his wife, Maja, were
hunting elk too. Their camp was a
mile or so from McKibben’s, on the
opposite side of a ridge.
“Had Dennis not come along I
would have been in a very uncomfort-
able place,” McKibben said.
Lefever, 49, was driving back to
camp after a morning hunt when he
saw McKibben.
Lefever said he didn’t spare a mo-
ment’s though about whether he
should stop when he saw McKibben.
“It’s easy for people to get turned
around in the woods, and I wasn’t
sure if he was lost or stuck,” Lefever
said. “When you see a guy walking on
the road you stop to make sure they’re
all right.”
McKibben wasn’t lost.
But he had a problem just the same.
He didn’t have cell service so he
couldn’t call his brother, John, who
lives in Pendleton.
Lefever, who has hunted in the area
for many years, told McKibben to
jump in.
They drove back to McKibben’s
camp.
But two people working on the truck
was no more effective at reviving the rig
than McKibben had been alone.
Lefever drove McKibben the 15
miles or so to Sumpter to buy an ad-
ditive that can remove small amounts
of water from fuel.
While they were in Sumpter, McK-
ibben asked Lefever if there was an
ATM in town.
“He wanted to give me some money,”
Lefever said. “I told him I’m not wor-
ried about that.”
Lefever, whose phone did have ser-
vice, offered to let McKibben call his
brother, who is a helicopter mechanic,
and get some advice.
His brother suggested replacing some
parts that weren’t available in Sumpter.
So Lefever offered to drive McKibben
to Baker City, about 45 miles from the
camp on Corrigal Springs Road, to buy
the parts.
In Baker City they went through the
same routine as before.
McKibben asked about an ATM.
Lefever shrugged off any mention of
money.
The pair retraced their route to
Lefever drove to meet McKibben’s
brother, John, and show him the way
to Steve’s camp.
John McKibben had brought an-
other battery and a generator so Steve
could plug in the pickup’s block heater.
Lefever stayed to help the brothers
work on the Ford.
Finally the diesel rumbled to life.
“My relief was a palpable gasp,”
Steve McKibben wrote in his letter to
Sheriff Ash.
He also wrote, referring to Lefever:
“Now to the man who had selflessly
given 1 1/2 days of his elk hunt and
A surprise shines through the dark
more kindness, generosity and help-
On the other side of the hill, McKib- fulness than any man can expect. An
Baker County Sheriff’s Office/Contributed Photo ben did have food.
exceptional man of enduring quali-
Dennis Lefever is a corporal with the Baker
He did not have a juicy steak.
ties I believe we should all do well to
Or fried potatoes.
emulate. My respect will be heartfelt
County Sheriff’s Office.
But he wasn’t thinking about the food and I am truly blessed to have gotten
he had or didn’t have.
to know him.”
Mostly he was frustrated.
Lefever said he didn’t think any
“To say I have a fondness
“I was pretty despondent by the end more about whether to return to
for him in my heart would of the day,” McKibben said.
McKibben’s camp, to make sure he
He
was
annoyed
that
his
truck,
so
had a hot meal and that he was OK,
be an understatement. I
trustworthy over nearly 200,000 miles, than he did about whether to stop
don’t think I can convey
had betrayed him.
when he first saw the stranger strid-
(Albeit
the
blame
rested
not
with
the
ing up the lonely gravel road.
how much he helped me.” Ford but with the fuel.)
“In a situation like that you defi-
McKibben described his feelings in
nitely want to make sure they either
— Steve McKibben, talking about Cpl.
his letter to Sheriff Ash.
get up and going or get the help they
Dennis Lefever of the Baker County
“So here I am sitting in my truck
need,” Lefever said. “You want to see
Sheriff’s Office
in the dark on top of a snow covered
it through.”
mountain waiting for the frustration
But he wasn’t satisfied even after he
McKibben’s camp and had another go at and fatigue of the day to leave me so I
knew that McKibben’s truck was run-
the recalcitrant Ford, replacing the glow can just rest.”
ning, and that his brother was there to
Then he glimpsed something bright help if needed.
plug relay.
amid the comprehensive darkness of
McKibben, in a letter he sent last
Lefever said he called McKibben
the woods.
month to Baker County Sheriff Travis
a few days after their meeting in the
“All of the sudden I see the head-
Ash, lauding Lefever’s generosity, de-
woods, just to make sure he made it
lights,” McKibben said.
scribes the effect of the new part.
home safely. And because he wanted to
He didn’t at first recognize the rig that talk to this man he barely knew.
“Crank and crank and crank for
pulled into his camp, or the two people
nothing — she just won’t start.”
“He said he felt he had made a new
who got out.
About that time, Lefever got a text
friend,” Lefever said. “I feel the same
Then Lefever was placing the warm
message from his wife. Maja Lefever
way.”
plate in his hands, and introducing
was heading back to their camp but
Lefever said he was surprised,
Maja, whom McKibben had not met.
couldn’t make it up the hill in the new
though, when Ash showed him McK-
“It was a big steak,” McKibben said.
snow.
ibben’s letter.
Lefever told McKibben he had to go “And all of the sudden my spirits were
“It makes a person feel good,” Lefe-
lifted. I realized I’ve got people who are ver said.
help his wife.
going way above and beyond to help.
McKibben said he would sleep that
He downplays his own actions, say-
That really pulled me out of that funk. It ing he had only done what he would
night in his truck and wait for his
was amazing.”
brother, who planned to drive from
hope someone else would do if their
Actually it was even more than that. situations were reversed.
Pendleton the following day.
The Lefevers didn’t linger.
In his letter, McKibben writes that it
Lefever said McKibben tried yet
Turns out they hadn’t eaten the din- again to give him money, after his
was dark when Lefever drove away, “re-
luctantly leaving me in the truck alone.” ner Dennis had cooked.
truck was running again.
They chose to make their delivery
Lefever said he told McKibben, and
first.
The camp cook makes a decision
his brother, “just pass it forward guys,
“That kind of generosity .... very few that’s pretty much all I ask.”
Lefever headed back to his own
camp. Once he and Maja had both their people I’ve run across have that. I mean
Both Lefever and McKibben said
I’ve met lots of nice people, but this was they plan to stay in touch.
vehicles there, he started putting to-
an exceptionally generous gesture. It
gether dinner.
McKibben said he will never forget
“I’m usually the camp cook,” he said. was the right meal at the right time.
Lefever’s kindness.
“And the right smile.”
It was the sort of simple, hearty meal
“To say I have a fondness for him
typical of hunting camps.
in my heart would be an understate-
As Lefever watched the steaks and the The Ford finally starts
ment, McKibben said. “I don’t think I
potatoes sizzle, creating a small halo of
The next morning, Nov. 11, 2021,
can convey how much he helped me.”
Shop
aromatic warmth in the cold woods
on the cusp of winter, Lefever got to
thinking about McKibben.
“I wasn’t sure what he had for food,”
Lefever said.
What Lefever did know is that he
had one more steak than he and his
wife needed.
And that McKibben’s camp wasn’t far.
“We dished him up a plate,” Lefe-
ver said.
And then he and his wife headed
over the hill, hurrying a bit to make
sure the food stayed hot.
Police
County
ing to keep them two different
things,” Palmer said.
Continued from A2
Asked why he and Haberly
took it upon themselves to
While the discussions are
initiate talks on the law en-
still in their infancy, Palmer
forcement funding issue,
said he expects to have a
Palmer said they felt a respon-
number of meetings with
sibility to the community.
Haberly, McKinley and pos-
“Gregg and I grew up to-
sibly a few other people in
gether,” he said. “We want to
an attempt to come up with a see our town do better.”
proposal for law enforcement
McKinley said he’s just
funding that both city and
looking for a solution that
county leaders could accept. will enable him and his depu-
However, he said, the plan ties to do their job the way it
isn’t likely to involve the sort should be done.
of fund exchange Green pro-
“I’m hoping to get the staff
posed.
to be able to adequately cover
“The policing and roads
the city and make the city feel
that Nick asked for are two
they are adequately covered,”
different things, and we’re go- McKinley said.
Continued from A1
covering or face shield
when in an indoor space.
All individuals in at-
tendance at meetings
under the control of
Baker County are ex-
pected to comply with
this rule, unless ac-
tively eating, drinking,
speaking or presenting
in the meeting. Baker
County will make rea-
sonable accommo-
dation in compliance
with the Americans
with Disabilities Act,
Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act, ORS 659.850
and other applicable pro-
visions of Oregon law.
OAR 333-019-1025(4)-(7).
Face coverings continue
to be required in County
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He’s been busy recently
cleaning cars, inside
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fouled by the variety of
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“This month has been
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He has also cleaned car-
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The notice also includes
a link to the live stream of
the meeting, www.baker-
county.org/online/meet-
ings.html.
Continued from A1
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27 December 2021
MEET OREGON’S NEXT GOVERNOR
DR. BUD PIERCE
Dear Fellow Veteran:
I am running for the overwhelming honor of serving as your next Governor and Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Oregon Guard.
Oregon desperately needs effective, solution-oriented leadership. As your next Gover-
nor, I will restore Constitutional order on Day 1 because the first duty of Government
is maintaining order and safeguarding the innocent. As the next Commander-in-Chief
of Oregon’s Guard, I will never treat you like a prop.
I was trained that leading means you sleep last, eat last, and put yourself last.
COME MEET AND TALK WITH BUD AT
THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS ON
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12TH
Ontario
John Day
Baker City
8:00 AM
at the Plaza Inn
Restaurant in
Ontario
11:00 AM
at Ogilvie Field
in John Day
6:00 PM
at the Baker
County Conference
& Event Center
RSVP TODAY TO INFO@BUDPIERCE.ORG
Please join us, I would
like to meet you and
hear your ideas about
Oregon’s future!”
—BUD PIERCE
I lead with a servant’s heart because serving America is in my blood. I went to Marine
Corps boot camp in 1979. My time in the Corps taught me how to fight – and win – as
a team. After I graduated from medical school, I was proud to serve as a Navy phy-
sician. My dad was an Army soldier and Japanese POW in World War II. He met my
German mother while serving in the Army Air Corps during the Berlin Airlift. I grew
up right outside March Air Force Base, and my first job was bagging groceries at the
Commissary.
I learned from the start that a team couldn’t win unless every member of the team
plays team ball.
Many of you know that I fought my heart out in 2016 to save Oregon from Kate
Brown. We were outnumbered and overrun. We lost that battle, but we will not lose
this war for the future of Oregon—a war for what you sacrificed to defend.
Today, Oregon is at a crossroads. You can barely recognize the great State we call home.
She is bleeding out, and she won’t survive unless you administer buddy aid.
Oregonians will follow where you lead. To win, I need your endorsement. I need you
to sign up with my campaign to keep you informed of events, rallies, and targets of
opportunity. I need you to contribute. But most of all, I need you to lead by organizing
every Veteran in this great State to help me take it back.
The decisive battle is about to be joined, and I am asking you to join thousands of fel-
low patriots in Veterans for Bud Pierce. By rallying to my guidon, you can save Oregon.
Semper fi,
Want to be on our mailing list? Send an email to info@budpierce.org and we will sign you up!
PAID FOR BY BUD PIERCE FOR OREGON, PO BOX 2889, SALEM, OR 97308
Dr. Bud Pierce
Sgt, USMCR/LTCDR, USNR