Donald "Dean" Higinbotham

Donald “Dean” Higinbotham
7 November 1922 - 15 August 2010

Dean Higinbotham was born November 7, 1922 in Central Point, Oregon to Oscar and Mildred (Patton) Higinbotham and passed away August 15, 2010 at a local foster care home in Grants Pass, Oregon just 84 days before his 88th birthday.

A visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday, August 23, 2010 at Hull & Hull Funeral Directors. A funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at Hull & Hull Chapel. A gathering will follow at R-Haus Restaurant from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Dean was from a long line of early pioneers in Southern Oregon including the Higinbotham, Patton, McKee, and Edmondson families.

Dean’s early education included schools in Central Point, Butte Falls, Prospect, Malin, Klamath Falls, Medford, and Sedro Wooley, Washington

During his high school years in Medford, Dean worked at Bigelow's fountain as a 'soda jerk' and later delivering telegrams all over the Medford area on his Schwinn Bicycle for the Postal Telegraph Company. He graduated from Medford high in 1940.

After some post graduate studies at Sacramento Junior College, Dean went to work for Lockheed Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dean enlisted in the United States Army Air Force. After cadet training and extensive automatic pilot and glide bombing instruction, he became the B29 auto pilot and Norden bombsite administrator for Army air fields at Clovis, New Mexico - Amarillo, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico overseeing the maintenance and issue of the Norden bombsite for the Air Force fleet of B29 bombers.

Dean graduated from Oregon State College in June 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry and immediately (June 14, 1950) went to work for the Weyerhaeuser Company at the Coos Bay branch where he was in charge of fire control, reforestation, forest management and ultimately as area raw materials manager. He held a restricted radio telephone permit issued by the Federal Communications Commission and served as a Coos County Deputy Sheriff. He is a past chairman of the Colombia River section of the Society of American Foresters, past president of the Coos chapter of the Izaak Walton League, a member of the Coos Bay Methodist Church, a former Toastmaster, and for many years active in the Coos County United Good Neighbors Campaign.

In 1967 Higinbotham transferred to the Weyerhaeuser corporate headquarters in Tacoma, Washington retiring at the end of 1977 as a Vice President of the company.

After retirement, Dean returned to southern Oregon to live out his life in Grants Pass. Here Dean became a consultant for the Josephine County forestry department helping direct their timber sales and reforestation program.

During his last 32 years, Dean spent an enormous amount of time researching and documenting the genealogy of his ancestors and many other of the pioneer families of southern Oregon even confirming the Roxy Ann (the butte) was named for his great-great-grandmother. He produced and presented genealogy books to all members of his immediate family and at least 10 volumes to the Southern Oregon Historical Society.

Dean had become one of the most thorough and reliable sources of genealogical information and perhaps the foremost authority on genealogy in southern Oregon.

Dean was a lifetime member of Blanco Lodge of Coos Bay and Grants Pass Masonic lodge AF & AM. He was also a life member of York Rite Bodies Reamers chapter #28 Royal Arch Masons, Rogue council #23 Cryptic Masons, Melita Commandry #8 and also a member of Hillah Shrine temple.

Deans closest surviving relatives include first cousins Marcia Skinner of Medford, Lowell Patton of Lake Oswego, Keith Stocky of Beaverton, Sally (Higinbotham) Burns of Central Point, and Allan Higinbotham of Ontario, Oregon.