Ross Robert Hammack, 85, died on Nov. 27, 2004
He was born on Aug. 22, 1919 in Lostine to Floyd and Zelma Hammack, the youngest of six children.
Ross graduated from Enterprise High School as president of his class and went to college at Oregon State University where he studied engineering. He married his wife of 63 years, Donna Mae Brown, on Aug. 2, 1941.
He is survived by four children, Jonathan Ross Hammack (Linda) of Portland; Jeffrey Charles Hammack (Sandra) of Buhl, Idaho; Linda Hammack Giles (Don) of Portland; and Matthew Lyle Hammack of Danville, Calif.; nine grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his sister, Velva Hofmann of La Grande. He has many nieces, nephews and lifelong friends who will miss his warm smile and gracious manner.
After college, Ross went to work for Willamette Iron & Steel and was posted to the U.S. Naval shipyard in Bremerton, Wash. during World War II, where he worked on electrical engineering projects for submarines. He then returned Kaiser Industries on Swan Island before joining his older brother, Lyle, at Raven Creamery in Portland.
In 1961 Ross started the Hammack Brokerage Company and four years later he purchased Dickensheets-Potter Food Brokerage Co. In 1974 the company became Hammack & Associates, Inc.
Ross was an inaugural inductee into the Oregon Food Industry Hall of Fame, president of the Founding Board of Directors of the Frozen Food Council of Oregon, vice president of the National Food Brokers Association, a founding board member of the Association of Oregon food Industries, a member of the founding board of the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism management at Oregon State University, president of the Portland Executives Association and president of the Oregon Distributors Association.
Ross was president of Columbia Edgewater Country Club, a member of Portland Golf Club and Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was a member of the Senior Northwest Golf Association. He belonged to the University Club, the Arlington Club, Multnomah Athletic Club, Kiwanis, Rotary and other organizations throughout the Portland area.
Ross had an undeniable passion for golf and over the years had been involved in bringing professional golf to the Northwest as a member of the “Trembling Twenty” group that was responsible for attracting the first Professional Golf Association golf tournaments to Oregon.
The funeral was held on December 2 at Finley-Sunset Hills Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society in the name of Ross R. Hammack.
Wallowa County Chieftain, Thursday, December 23, 2004