John E. Carlson, 87, of Baker City, died April 12, 2006, at the Boise Veterans Hospital.
His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Private vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Sister Kay Marie Duncan of Pathway Hospice will officiate.
Friends are invited to join the family for a reception after the service at The Sunridge, 1 Sunridge Lane.
John was born June 16, 1918, at Buhl, Idaho, to Edward and Amanda Lindstrom Carlson. After graduation from Baker High School, he attended Oregon State College. His Rose Bowl football team was later honored in Corvallis during the 1990s at the Hall of Fame Banquet.
During World War II, he served in the Pacific on Okinawa with the Army Air Corps, where he was instrumental in building a power station to provide electricity to the troops.
He had been a lineman for Eastern Oregon Electric and California Pacific, then after the war he opened an appliance store at Halfway and Baker. He established Carlson Construction Co. and was a private contractor to provide and repair power lines throughout Oregon.
During this time he became interested in aviation and earned an instrument qualification to fly for business. The California Pacific Utility High Spots magazine called him a “Pioneer With Wings” for being the line contraction unit with its headquarters in Eastern Oregon.
Survivors include his wife Marge of Baker City; son, John H. Carlson of Portland; brother, Duane Carlson of Scottsdale, Ariz.; sister-in-law, LaVelle Bonbright of Pendleton; and many nieces and nephews.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society through Gray’s West & Co., 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, April 21, 2006
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor