SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 23, 1998 - THREE
County judge, commissioner turn over the reins
The new year at the Morrow
County Courthouse in Heppner
will bring a changing of the
guard. Long time Judge Louis
Carlson and commissioner
Raymond French are retiring
from office and a new group of
commissioners will assume
duties after the first of the year.
Louis Carlson
Louis Carlson is ending a 12-
year career as Morrow County
Judge. He began his first term in
1987 and successfully ran for a
second term which began in
1993.
Louis was bom on the family
farm on Valby Church Road to
Leonard and Julia Carlson. His
paternal grandparents, Andrew
and Sophia, homesteaded the
land. His maternal grandmother,
who lived in Boone, Iowa, had
emigrated from Sweden. His
maternal grandfather was killed
in a coal mine and his mother
was raised by an aunt. His
mother came to Oregon to live
with her aunt in Portland.
Louis had two sisters,
Mildred Hope who lives in
Eugene, and Joyce, who is
deceased, and one brother,
Clifford, also deceased, who
was a grain trader in Portland.
Louis attend the Rocky Bluff
school, a one-room schoolhouse
at the Rocky Bluff School on
Valby Road., until the third
grade. He was then bused into
lone and attended lone Schools
until his graduation in 1948 He
attended
Oregon
State
University until 1950, when he
returned to the area and maimed
Betty Graves on December 22,
1950.
After his return he lived in
lone, working as a laborer. He
helped build the grain elevator
in lone, putting the building
together three feet at a time. He
said that he and some of his
classmates competed with each
other to see who finished first,
sometimes hanging on to the
elevator at great heights with the
wind blowing and snow flying.
In those days, says Louis, labor
was "very cheap and very
productive."
He then went to work for
Oscar Peterson, who was county
judge at that time. It was then
that Louis was exposed to the
judgeship and county politics on
the campaign trail with Oscar
and his chauffeur.
Louis then went to work for his
cousin, Swede Carlson, for
about three years, until his
parents retired from the ranch
and moved to Portland. Louis
bought their ranch and then
rented his uncle Jesse Warfield's
place. Some time later Louis
and Betty purchased her parents'
(Dorris and John Graves) cattle
and wheat ranch in Hardman. In
1967 the Carlsons were named
the state conservation farmers of
the year.
The Carlsons raised four kids,
Sandra Richardson, who now
lives in Central Point, Phillip,
Hardman, Cheri Frey, Tule
Lake, CA, and Clint, lone. Louis
was active as a 4-H Club leader
for 13 years and in 1970 he was
named father of the year by the
Heppner
Chamber
of
Commerce. After the children
were raised, Louis and Betty
expanded their ranch further,
renting neighboring land and
turning it into a sizable wheat
and cattle operation about the
time their sons graduated from
college. Since their sons had
become active on the ranch,
Louis was able to get more
involved in civic affairs. He
served on the Port of Morrow
Commission from 1975 to 1986,
acting as chairman from 1983-
86 and became active in the
Oregon Wheat Growers League,
serving as their president in
1982. In 1983 he was named the
Heppner Chamber of Commerce
Man o f the Year.
The Carlsons leased the
Claude and Happy Graham land
and moved to the Graham Farm
three miles north of Heppner in
1985. In 1986 Louis was urged
to run for county judge. His bid
was successful and in January of
1987 he was sworn in as judge.
Louis credits much of his
success as county judge to his
employees. "Nothing happens
because one man does it," says
Louis, adding that hiring a good
staff is "probably one of the
toughest things to do and even
more difficult to keep". "We
treat out people well and
appreciate them," he added.
Carlson says he is also proud
of the job the judge and
commissioners have done in
"recognizing the Boardman-
Irrigon communities."
"We
made a genuine effort to treat
them as equals in the Morrow
County services and I believe
we accomplished that," he said.
Carlson considers being a
"major
player"
in
the
construction of the interchange
overpass on 1-84 at Patterson
Ferry
Road
a
major
accomplishment during his
tenure.
The interchange
provided a connection from the
freeway to the waterfront area
on the Columbia River, giving
corporate farms access to the
river and assisted in locating
industry to that area. The federal
highway administration project
was "well worth the money,"
said Carlson.
He also was a major influence
in establishing the Community
Action Program for East-Central
Oregon (CAPECO). He was a
charter member of CAPECO,
which is dedicated to aiding low
income persons, senior citizens
and the handicapped, and only
recently resigned from the
board.
Another
major
accomplishment during his term
of office was the Finley Buttes
Landfill project. The contract
brings in $300,000 a year in
discretionary funds to be used
for the communities in Morrow
County.
Carlson said that another
noteworthy
project
accomplished
was
the
consolidation of all the county
services—a sort of one-stop-
shopping-with the offices of
public
health,
juvenile
department.
Children
and
Family Services all located in
the Gilliam-Bisbee Building,
judicial
services
at
the
courthouse and GIS and
accounting at the annex- at no
additional cost to taxpayers.
Another coup of Louis' has
been the county budget. "We've
done it with virtually no tax
increase," said Carlson. "Since
the advent of Measure 50, we've
had a tax rollback. We've held
the line on tax asking and have
even decreased the asking."
One of Carlson's major
challenges has been dealing with
the Army and the Federal
Emergency
Management
Administration on the chemical
stockpile program incineration
program at the Army Depot in
north Morrow County. He
anticipates that it will probably
not be until 2005-2006 until the
program reaches fruition.
"I've really appreciated the
support and the approval of
most folks," said Carlson. "I
can't say that I pleased
everybody, but it wasn't that I
didn't try." Carlson says that he
feels it was time to resign and
adds that he leaves his job in
"some very capable hands."
After his reign as judge, Louis
says he will change jobs, but
still plans on working on the
ranch. "I'll have seasonal jobs
that will still need to be done,"
he said. "Other than that. I'll
probably be doing whatever my
wife tells me to."
Other than a trip to Puerto
Rico, which includes a cruise
through the Panama Canal and
ends up in Mexico, they have no
special plans. The Carlsons also
have eight grandchildren—
Amanda Richardson, Medford,
Jodie and Kyle Carlson,
Hardman, Andrea, Brad and
Amy Frey, Tule Lake, and Alex
and Julianne Carlson, Ione-
who, no doubt, figure in
grandma and grandpa's plans.
Raymond French
Raymond French's extensive
public service includes eight
years as Morrow County
commissioner and a term at the
Oregon State Legislature from
1985-1989.
Raymond was bom in
Pendleton in 1927 to Herb and
Rose (Hirl) French, who lived
on their ranch at Big
Buttercreek.. His dad passed
away when he was only eight
years old and his mother later
married Bill Francis, who was
the State Police officer here at
the time. Three out of four of
Ray's grandparents came from
Ireland-Susan Doherty French,
and Phillip and Mary (Doherty)
Hirl. His other grandfather was
Dillard French. He has two
sisters, Francine Francis Evans,
Imgon, and Dorothy French
O'Rourke, Pendleton, and a
brother, Joe, Portland.
Raymond attended first grade
at the Lena school, but the next
year, there were so few students,
the families fixed up a school on
a neighbor's ranch. A new
family moved to the area and
the children returned to the
Lena School. Tragically, then
Raymond's father died and
Raymond was sent to attend
school at St. Joseph's Academy
in Pendleton. From the fifth
grade on, he attended school in
Heppner, in what is now the
middle school building. At that
time, Heppner grade school and
high school were housed in that
building, with the grade school
downstairs and the middle and
high school upstairs.
Ray has vivid memories of his
life as a child in Heppner. The
business area was quite a bit
livelier than it is now, with a
Safeway in town a tractor and
caterpillar
dealership
and
numerous car dealerships.
Traveling to Portland was an all
day affair and Ray recalls one
time when he and his
grandmother accompanied cattle
on the train to the Portland
stockyards, a hub of activity. If
you shipped cattle, you could
ride free on the train's caboose.
In those days, most of the cattle
was sold in Portland and many
big packing outfits were located
there. Now, says Raymond,
because
of
Portland
development, you can't even tell
that the stockyards were once
there. At rodeo time, the family
came to town and stayed in a
hotel, because the roads and
automobiles at the time made
travel difficult.
Ray graduated from Heppner
High School in 1945. His class
had the distinction of being the
smallest freshman class to ever
enter high school, with 13
students. By the time they had
graduated, the class had grown
to 18.
As they graduated, World War
II was in full swing and Ray
enlisted into the Navy while he
was still in high school. The war
ended about two months later.
"We had no idea the war was
going to end," said Raymond.
"But then they dropped the
atomic bomb. If we hadn't
dropped the bomb and we
invaded Japan, there would have
been tremendous losses." When
he entered the service, he
enrolled in the Navy's pre-flight
training program, but as the war
ended, the program was phased
out.
Raymond returned to Morrow
County and married Norma
Denton in Oct. of 1946. He and
Norma had gotten to know each
other at the Heppner-Condon
high school football games-he
was a Heppner football player
and she was a Condon
cheerleader.
In 1948, They moved to the
French ranch at Vinson, staying
there a year before moving onto
the ranch at Big Buttercreek.
Raymond's
great,
great
grandfather Jesse Hamer had
homesteaded land which he sold
to Dillard French, Raymond's
grandfather, who had also
homesteaded his own place.
The Frenches raised three
daughters, Karen Wood, who
now lives in Beaverton; Verina
Schiller,
who
lives
in
Pflugerville, Texas, a suburb of
Austin; and Susie Ward, who
operates the ranch on B ig'
Buttercreek along with her -
husband, Jim. The Frenches
have nine grandchildren: Gavin
and Megan Wood; Ryan, Tina,
Justin, Jared and Tiffany
Schiller; and Ashley and
Lindsey Ward1.
In addition to his service on
the county court and in Salem,
Raymond served four years on
the Heppner School Board and
was a member when schools
were consolidated into the
Morrow County School District.
He spent 16 years on the Soil
and Water Conservation District
and was vice president and then
president of the Oregon
Cattlemen's Association. The
Frenches are members of St.
Patrick's Church.
agree that one of their biggest
accomplishments is hinng and
maintaining quality employees.
"That has lead to our successes,"
he says. "I think our road system
has improved over the years, the
government has become more
accessible and our social
services have been upgraded.
But it all goes back to the one
thing (quality employees).
After retirement Raymond says
he plans to play a little golf and
has always wanted to see Mt.
Rushmore. The Frenches would
also like to visit Ireland, where
Raymond
has
countless
relatives he hasn't ever met. His
sister has been to Ireland and
met much of the family and
Raymond has corresponded with
a cousin Birdie Hickey who
lives in Ireland and hopes to
eventually get together with her.
Raymond was in the
legislature during the formation
of the Regional Strategies
system which funds economic
development and, among other
things, helps small communities.
At that time, the legislature was
just starting to deal with the idea
of incinerating the chemical
weapons at the Umatilla Army
Depot. Then they thought it
would be done in a few years
and wasn't going to cost much
money, laughs Raymond. The
process turned out to be one of
his biggest challenges during
office. Another, he says, is the
ongoing challenge of keeping
small rural communities vital.
"Our rural way of life is
something we cherish and want
to maintain," he says.
Of all Raymond's numerous
achievements, he and Louis
Tom Wolfe named CBEC
and blankets and dog bowls and
office manager chews.
His wife Karen, who is from
Tom Wolfe
Author Thomas Wolfe said,
"You can't go home again."
Heppner's native son, Tom
Wolff,
proves that theory
wrong.
Wolff the son of the late Dr.
Wallace and Rita Wolff, has
returned to Heppner to accept a
position as office manager of
Columbia
Basin
Electric,
effective Dec. 1. The position
became available when Jerry
Healy, former office manager,
was appointed CBEC general
manager.
Wolff grew up in Heppner,
graduating from Heppner High
school in 1975. He graduated
from Oregon State University in
LaGrande, was in management
in the insurance industry for 11
years, holding an executive
position with State Farm
Insurance until resigning four
years ago to become a full-time
mom. She also is a graduate of
OSU.
The Wolffs have three
daughters, Lindsay, a freshman
at
Willamette
University,
Kelsey, a third grader, and
Ashley, who is in the first grade.
The Wolffs have half interest
in a ranch at Hardman where
Tom has been staying until they
are able to find a house in town.
The family plans to move to
Heppner during spring break
and they eventually hope to
build their own home.
"I like Heppner and wanted to
get back," said Wolff of his
return. "It’s a great place for my
girls to grow up."
1979 with degrees in both
accounting and finance.
Wolff was a certified public
accountant in The Dalles for
seven years and has been a
financial officer for the past 14
years. For the last five years, he
has been chief financial officer
and general manager for Caddis
Manufacturing, a company out
of
McMinnville.
Caddis
Manufacturing manufactures fly
fishing float tubes, pet bedding
G -T F O O T B A L L P I C K S C O N T E S T
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will t e s t th e ir
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Guest [ xptrt:
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The co lleg e gam es p ick ed Iasi week w ill be counted as the gam es are p la yed
( ^ ) Mr R e a lly Bighe ad- Liny in d les ire ned for /¡nt*
^
Mr. Bighead-Top Score for the Week! Congnts to kid (knt-tme H r Agheed) indies (perenna! Hr Agheed)!"