George “Bud” Woods, 67, a former Baker City resident, died Feb. 8, 2006, at Oregon Health & Science University at Portland from complications of leukemia treatment.
His memorial service will be at 1 p.m. March 18 at the Portola Station Baptist Church in Portola, Calif. Private interment will be at Likely Cemetery in Likely, Calif.
Bud was born on Feb. 9, 1938, at Likely, Calif., to George and Lita Zollig Woods. His parents were originating partners in the Gibson Stage Line to Reno, Nev., and Veteran Service officers.
Bud attended school at Woodland, Calif., from 1943 to 1953. The family then moved to Lodi, Calif., where he graduated from Lodi High School in 1956.
Bud spent his summers from 1952 to 1956 working on his Uncle Elmer Williams’ ranch at Termo in Lassen County, Calif. After high school, he joined the U.S. Army in February 1957. He served at Fort Carson, Colo., Fort Gordon, Ga., and Fort Lewis, Wash.
While serving at Fort Lewis, he was a member of the Fort Lewis Pistol Marksmanship Team. On a return trip from Southern California, he met his future wife, Anne M. Otter of Roseville, Calif. They were married at Roseville on May 1, 1960.
While living at Sacramento, Bud went to work for PG&E. In 1961 he went to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a trapper for Quincy and Mariposa, Calif.
He returned to Quincy in 1963 to become a deputy for the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office. He founded the Plumas County Search and Rescue Jeep Posse and continued as a reserve deputy for the sheriff’s office.
In 1964, he signed on for a permanent position with the U.S. Forest Service at Quincy and began his long career as an engineering equipment operator. He served in the Plumas National Forest at Quincy from 1964 to 1974; the Clearwater Forest at Orofino, Idaho, from 1974 to 1978; Olympic National Forest at Port Charles, Wash., from 1978 to 1982; and he retired from the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest at Baker City in 1989 after spending seven years here.
While working in the Clearwater area, he became a reserve deputy for the county sheriff’s office and helped found the search and rescue unit there. While working at Orofino, he joined the Idaho National Guard and competed nationally on the rifle marksmanship team.
After retirement, he and Anne became “full timers” (full-time RV’ers). They found new and fulfilling careers as volunteers for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge System.
They served thousands of hours on numerous refuges, including the Bosque Del Apache in New Mexico, Corn Creek and Pahranaget on the Desert National Wildlife Refuge system in Nevada, Ouray National Wildlife Refuge at Vernal, Utah, and the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in Oregon.
They spent seven years as volunteers at Hart Mountain before Bud came out of retirement in 2003 to work full time and help found the “Friends of Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge” organization.
Survivors include his wife of 45 years, Anne, of Lakeview; daughter and son-in-law, Chris and John Pellissier of Klamath Falls; son, Joseph Woods of Klamath Falls; son and daughter-in-law, George and Kim Woods of Boise; brothers and sisters-in-law, William and Karin Woods of Charlotte, N.C., and Robert and Wanda Woods of Gridley, Calif.; three grandsons, Jacob Woods of Boise, Brandon Woods of Roseburg and Raimey Schaan of Roseburg; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, John and Elda Otter of Carmichael, Calif.; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society, 9320 S.W. Barbur Blvd., Suite 140, Portland, OR 97219 or to the Jefferson State Friends of the National Rifle Association, P.O. Box 7465, Klamath Falls, OR 97602.
Alternative Burial & Cremation of Oregon at Sherwood is in charge of arrangements.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, February 24, 2006
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor