William “Doug” Simonson, 76, died at an assisted living center on Sept. 28, 2007.
His memorial service will be at 11 a.m. PDT at the McEwen Bible Fellowship Hall, 15403 Sumpter Stage Highway (on Highway 7 three miles south of the Sumpter junction).
Doug was born on March 1, 1931, at Sandpoint, Idaho. He lived with his mother, Ida Veda, his father, William E. Simonson, and his brother, Dave, at Hope, Idaho, until the age of 10 when his mother died. Because of his father’s job with the Spokane Railroad, which took him away from home a great deal, he and his brother went to live with family friends.
His father remarried when he was 14 and the family moved to Spokane, Wash. At the age of 16 he moved to Sumpter where he went to work at his beloved uncle’s Bald Mountain Mine.
He joined the U.S. Air Force in January 1951. Until 1954 he was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nev., where he worked as a weapons mechanic on aircraft. He then returned to Sumpter, where he met Patricia Graves. They were married on Dec. 3, 1955.
Doug began his career as a logger in the spring of 1956. He started out bumping knots, then went to falling trees, then to a skidder operator, ending up as a woods boss and mechanic for 20 years for Carter Logging. He then retired and built his shop in Sumpter where he worked on heavy equipment. After selling his shop, he moved to the Ontario area to be near his family.
Doug got his start in cross-country motorcycle racing when he was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base. He continued to race until 1965, winning many trophies.
He also was an avid reader and spent many hours reading. He loved being close to his grandchildren so he could see them often and spent many occasions with them, sharing stories of his glory days, racing and logging. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
Survivors include his wife, Patricia Simonson; his son, Steve Simonson and his wife, Melissa Simonson and their three children, Mikayla, Taylor and Byron Simonson; his daughter, Julie Patterson and her three children, Jade and Jakob Martenson, and Emmalie Patterson; his brother, Dave Simonson; stepsister, Donna Smith; stepbrother, Dick McConnell; and many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
He was preceded in death by his mother, father and many aunts and uncles.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, October 2, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor