Norm Parker: From the Wilds of Canada to Tualatin

Oral History of: Norm Parker

Interviewer: Sandra Lafky Carlson

Video: by Mike Loftin at DigaPix

Date: January 11, 2023

Norm paints an amazing story starting with his 1934 birth near Burns Lake, British Columbia—where 12 miles to the nearest town was a long walk because there were no cars ; folks only went to doctors when absolutely necessary; there were no telephones; and even neighbors lived a couple miles away.   Hear about his home being converted to a school for the local kids.  Learn about the “hospital” where he was born which was nothing more than a bedroom at the doctor’s house.  Find yourself immersed in a compelling story of a family living on about $50 per month and a boy who’s father died when he was nine plus the journey that brought him, his sister and mother to Oregon where he grew into a man, served his country and started a business which still thrives to this day.

“They offered me $750 a month and boy did I think I was in roses then.”

Key Words

Canada Burns Lake British Columbia homesteader 1912 Grants Pass  Margarete Scott  Helen George Topeka Washburn University Teacher Billings Montana Medford born 1934 Bill Bowerman Nike Gertrude Holms correspondence course Ootsa Lake Kirby Klamath Falls 1950 Oregon State Korean War DMV Seoul Fort Ord California tractor horse drawn equipment steers trapping muskrats lake district squirrels agricultural sprayer chemical distributor Tule Lake California DuPont Del Smith Evergreen Western Helicopter Services retired 2002 Weyerhaeuser Crown Zellerbach fertilizer aerial reseeded Mount Saint Helens 1980 Columbia Forest Service BLM State of Oregon Norm McGrew  Al Cole Apache Bluff married 1965 David 1971 Sarah 1977 Corona Cora Loyce Martinazzi 1997 Presbyterian Methodist Heritage Center Sandra Carlson Karen Lafky Larry Lee Men’s group Grange Homeowners Association travel Italy cousins England Russia Moscow Saint Petersburg Marilla Post Office Post Master Roswell