THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2021 A15
Villagers burst
firecrackers and
hold placards
featuring U.S.
Vice President
Kamala Harris
to celebrate her
inauguration
in Thulasen-
drapuram, the
hometown of
Harris’ maternal
grandfather,
located south of
Chennai, India,
on Wednesday.
Gerald Bruce (Jerry) Seed
January 4, 1933 - January 15, 2021
Aijaz Rahi/AP
Harris
Continued from A1
Her rise is historic in any
context, another moment when
a stubborn boundary falls away,
expanding the idea of what’s
possible in American politics.
But it’s particularly meaningful
because Harris is taking office
at a moment when Americans
are grappling over institutional
racism and confronting a pan-
demic that has disproportion-
ately devastated Black and
brown communities.
Those close to Harris say
she’ll bring an important —
and often missing — perspec-
tive to the debates on how to
overcome the many hurdles
facing the new administration.
“In many folks’ lifetimes,
we experienced a segregated
United States,” said Lateefah
Simon, a civil rights advocate
and longtime Harris friend and
mentee. “You will now have a
Black woman who will walk
into the White House not as a
guest but as a second in com-
mand of the free world.”
A celebration halfway
around the world
Harris — the child of im-
migrants, a stepmother of two
and the wife of a Jewish man
— “carries an intersectional
story of so many Americans
who are never seen and heard.”
In India, residents of a tiny
village surrounded by rice pad-
dies flocked to a Hindu tem-
ple, setting off firecrackers and
praying as they watched Harris
take her oath of office. Groups
of women in bright saris and
men wearing white dhoti pants
watched the inauguration live
as reporters broadcast the
villager’s celebrations to mil-
lions of Indians. The villagers
chanted “Long live Kamala
Harris” while holding portraits
of her and blasted off fireworks
the moment she took the oath.
Her maternal grandfather
was born in the village of Thu-
lasendrapuram. Harris’ late
mother was also born in India,
before moving to the U.S. to
study at the University of Cali-
fornia. She married a Jamaican
man, and they named their
daughter Kamala, a Sanskrit
word for “lotus flower.”
On Wednesday, her fam-
ily joined her on stage as she
took the oath and later during
her procession to her new of-
fice building near the White
House. She was led by her alma
mater Howard University’s
marching band and walked
while holding the hand of her
grandniece and alongside her
husband, stepchildren, sister,
brother-in-law and nieces.
Harris, 56, moves into the
vice presidency just four years
after she first came to Wash-
ington as a senator from Cal-
ifornia, where she’d served as
attorney general and as San
Francisco’s district attorney.
She had expected to work with
a White House run by Hillary
Clinton, but President Donald
Trump’s victory quickly scram-
bled the nation’s capital and set
the stage for the rise of a new
class of Democratic stars.
The inauguration activities
included nods to her histo-
ry-making rise and her per-
sonal story.
Harris used two Bibles to
take the oath, one that belonged
to Supreme Court Justice Thur-
good Marshall, the late civil
rights icon whom Harris often
cites as inspiration, and Regina
Shelton, who helped raise Har-
ris during her childhood in the
San Francisco Bay Area.
After the ceremony, she and
Emhoff escorted former Vice
President Mike Pence and his
wife, Karen Pence, out of the
Capitol, a gesture that would
normally be performed by the
incoming and outgoing pres-
idents, but Trump did not at-
tended the inauguration. Har-
ris, Pence and their spouses
spoke for several minutes be-
fore the Pences departed.
Biden, in his inaugural ad-
dress, reflected on the 1913
march for women’s suffrage the
day before President Woodrow
Wilson’s inauguration, during
which some marchers were
heckled and attacked.
“Today, we mark the swear-
ing in of the first woman in
American history elected to
national office, Vice President
Kamala Harris. Don’t tell me
things can’t change,” Biden said.
As vice president, Harris will
expand the definition of who
gets to hold power in Amer-
ican politics, said Martha S.
Jones, a professor of history at
Johns Hopkins University and
the author of “Vanguard: How
Black Women Broke Barriers,
Won the Vote, and Insisted on
Equality for All.”
People who want to under-
stand Harris and connect with
her will have to learn what
it means to graduate from a
historically Black college and
university rather than an Ivy
League school. They will have
to understand Harris’ tradi-
tions, like the Hindu celebra-
tion of Diwali, Jones said.
“Folks are going to have to
adapt to her rather than her
adapting to them,” Jones said.
John E. Masterson
July 25, 1933 - Dec. 24, 2020
John Edgar Masterson of Bend,
OR passed away after a short
illness on December 24,
2020. John was born in
Portland, OR on July 25,
1933 to Rubye (Hilyard)
and Guy V. Masterson.
He grew up in Southeast
Portland until his family
moved to Eugene in 1947.
After graduating from
University High School
in Eugene, John earned his
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees
in Biology from the University of Oregon. A two-
year stint in the U.S. Army followed his collegiate
education. During his Army service in Denver, CO,
John met Anne Willits through a mutual friend.
They shared a love of the outdoors, skiing, and
science, and were married on August 27, 1960.
John convinced Anne to leave her nursing job
in Colorado and move back to Oregon with him
where he began his college teaching career. After
their two boys were born in Eugene, John took on
teaching opportunities in Vancouver, WA, Ames,
IA and Anchorage, AK, earning a Ph.D. in genetics
from Iowa State University along the way. In
1975, the always independent-minded Professor
Masterson made a significant change in his and
his family’s lives by buying a farm in Yamhill
County, OR. This big leap was a dream of his since
childhood when he spent weekends on his aunt
and uncle’s farm outside of Portland in the 1940s.
While getting the farm into economically
sustainable shape, John commuted to the Portland
area to work for the Oregon Museum of Science
and Industry while Anne worked as a nurse at a
clinic in McMinnville, OR. He then turned to farming
full-time, which he dearly loved. He produced
wheat, alfalfa, and later acquired 70 ewes, adding
lambing season to the 365 day a year farming life.
After the kids graduated from college and a decade
of farm life, Anne and John moved to Sunriver, OR
while still managing some land on the other side
of the mountains. They enjoyed skiing, tennis,
golf, entertaining friends, and hosting Sunriver
Music Festival musicians. In 1998, they moved the
short drive north to Bend, OR and spent winters in
Tucson, AZ where they could continue to enjoy golf,
tennis and views of the Santa Catalina Mountains
from their home.
John had an intellectual curiosity that spanned
a range of topics beyond genetics. On any given
day you could see him reading about economics,
literature classics, history, or environmental
science. He could also be the prototypical absent-
minded professor, which produced a lifetime of
humor – some intended, some not so. John always
charted his own very idiosyncratic course in life
and valued critical thinking above all else. He
could be a tough critic, but always toughest on
himself.
John is survived by his two sons, Guy McGregor
and Kevin Ward (Toni), his grandson Jackson Ward,
and several nephews and nieces. He was preceded
in death by his parents, his sister Gyla Murdock
and his wife of 55 years, Anne. Contributions
in John’s honor can be made to the Union of
Concerned Scientists (www.ucsusa.org) or the
Sunriver Music Festival (www.sunrivermusic.org).
Gerald Bruce Seed, known to everyone as
“Jerry”, beloved father, grandfather, uncle
and friend, passed away this past week in
Bend due to complica} ons from a recent
stroke.
Jerry was born in a sharecropper farm house
in rural Hayes County, Nebraska, the 4th of 5
boys to Walter and Miranda Seed. Growing
up during the great depression in the dust
bowl area of Southwestern Nebraska meant
a lot of hard work, something that Jerry
would never shy away from for the rest of
his life. Regarding his childhood Jerry would
ov en remark, <We were too broke to know it
and too dumb to care.” Farm life helped Jerry
develop a quick wit and love of jokes from an
early age.
At age 10, the family relocated to Missouri, then soon made a journey to St . Paul, Oregon,
back to Missouri, and then û nally set led in Silverton, Oregon where Jerry graduated
from high school at age 16. It was at this age that Jerry owned his û rst business, buying
the lease on the local Flying A service sta} on. He would later hold jobs driving log trucks,
building part of Oregon Highway 22 near Sublimity, and then being drav ed into the U.S.
Army.
Jerry served as a mess sergeant in the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington
during the Korean Conû ict. It was here that he honed his skill of cooking for large numbers
of people in any situa} on, something he would do when he went out û shing, hun} ng and
for many family reunions later in life.
Av er his service, Jerry returned to Silverton to help care for his ailing father. He was
working in a Salem department store selling shoes when he met his wife of over 55
years, Marilyn. The two were married in 1956 and relocated to Springû eld where Jerry
worked for Alexander’s Department Store. Jerry would later rise to manage stores for
Alexander’s in Newport and Florence, Oregon.
In 1963, Jerry was recruited by the Northern Commercial Company and moved to
Fairbanks, Alaska as a buyer for women’s and children’s clothing. It was there that Jerry
and Marilyn welcomed their û rst child, James Walter, who tragically only lived for two
days.
Jerry was soon relocated to Anchorage where he con} nued as the head buyer for
Northern Commercial (NC), buying everything for the women’s department except
shoes. It was on March 27, 1964, just av er Jerry had restocked the cosme} c counter that
the 9.0 Great Alaska Earthquake occurred. One of the few management level employees
lev with the store, Jerry made sure everyone was safe and then, answering a desperate
call for any light source for the local hospital, walked 8 blocks by himself through rubble
and in the dark to deliver all of the û ashlights and lanterns he could carry. The next
day he rallied the employees to transfer needed goods to a nearby vacant building and
reopened the NC Department Store for business. This eû ort would change the minds of
NC management, who had decided to close the Anchorage department store, and would
later rebuild. The building is now the Anchorage Nordstrom.
Jerry lev NC in 1966 and became Vice President of Nerland9s Furniture. It was this 10-
year period with the largest furniture and decora} ng company in the state that Jerry
learned the furniture and mat ress trade.
While in Anchorage, Jerry and Marilyn adopted three children, son Brian in 1966 and
twin daughters Jodi and Jolene in 1968.
Wan} ng to own his own business and return to Oregon, Jerry and Marilyn purchased
Ostrander’s Country Furniture in Bend and relocated their family from Anchorage in
1976. Jerry would soon change the name of the business to Jerry’s Home Furnishings and
eventually open stores under this name in Madras and Sunnyside, Washington. Returning
to his department store roots, he opened Kid9s Stuû , a children9s clothing store, inside
the furniture store which con} nued into the early 1980s. Jerry would also open Central
Oregon Liquidators in Prineville and co-own Wall Street Interiors in Bend.
A member of the Downtowner9s, Jerry could ov en be seen puý ng up holiday decora} ons
on the light posts in Downtown Bend and par} cipa} ng in <Zany Days=, a fun retail fes} val
held downtown every year.
Jerry was never one to pass up an opportunity and, in 1987, he bought an old machine
that sewed mat resses together and opened The Mat ress Factory. The rest, as they say,
is local retail history. The Mat ress Factory soon outgrew every loca} on un} l set ling on
Highway 20 East of Pilot But e. For over 20 years, The Mat ress Factory was a û xture of
the east Bend retail district. The largest mat ress store in town and the only manufacturer
in the region. The Mat ress Factory soon became a household name, especially when
Jerry’s mother appeared on local television saying to everyone that she inspired him to
start the store by telling him to “make his bed”. “Can we make your bed today?” became
the store’s catchphrase.
Jerry could ov en be seen in his Mat ress Factory shirt, Costco jeans and sneakers nearly
every day - no mat er what the occasion. From delivering mat resses while listening to
country music, at his desk at the store, or helping a customer, Jerry was never shy about
sharing his latest joke - with his characteris} c Nebraska farm boy charm. Spending a day
in a truck driving between his stores in Bend and Moxee, Washington would be one of
the high points of his week.
Jerry loved Bend and was always ready to help those in need. He served as President of
Central Oregon Hospice in the organiza} on9s early years and would provide a hospital
bed free of charge for pa} ents so they could remain in their homes. He enjoyed driving
local veterans to Portland for medical care in the VA van monthly and over his life} me
gave gallons of blood through the local Red Cross. In his later years he enjoyed judging
local Boy Scout cooking compe} } ons. Jerry was always there to help if local residents
were displaced to make sure they had a bed to sleep in. Even though he was very
much engaged in helping the community, Jerry never sought recogni} on for any of his
community support.
Jerry was also devoted to his family, always ready to help when needed even if it was just
by being present. His many nieces and nephews, and even more friends, will remember
his kindness and fun loving nature which was always no more than a phone call away.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, his four brothers, his wife Marilyn and their
son James Walter. He is survived by his son Brian and daughter Jodi, both of Bend,
daughter Jolene of Wilson, Wyoming, grandchildren Jerri, Miranda, Riley, Sean-Michael,
James and Mark, two great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial viewing will be held at Niswonger-Reynolds Chapel in Bend on Friday, January
22, 2021 from 1 un} l 5 PM. A formal memorial service will be held at a later date.
Memorial contribu} ons in Jerry9s name may be made to Partner9s In Care - Bend, 2075
NE Wyat Court, Bend, Oregon 97701, Crater Lake Council of Boy Scouts of America,
61383 S. Highway 97 Ste. F, Bend, Oregon 97702 and/or donate a pint of blood to your
local Red Cross.