O.J. "Heavy" Kemmerer

O.J. "Heavy" Kemmerer

O.J. "Heavy" Kemmerer Jr., age 83, of Cove, died on Saturday, February 21, 2004 at the Grande Ronde Hospital. A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 at the Cove Seventh Day Adventist Church at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow at the Cove Cemetery. Arrangements are entrusted to Daniels Chapel of the Valley.

Mr. Kemmerer was born on October 14, 1920 at Coodys Bluff, Oklahoma, the son of Orvin Joseph and Josie Mae (Reynolds) Kemmerer. He is the last survivor of three brothers and one sister, Don, Hoyt and Sue. On September 16. 1939 in Nowata, Oklahoma he married Thelma Elizabeth Fry. They had a son, Johnnie and one daughter, Marilyn Sue. They first came to Oregon in 1942 when O.J. worked as a welder building Liberty ships in Portland during World War II. In 1943 they returned to Oklahoma to help on the family farm until 1947.

In 1947, Heavy and his older brother, Don, and all their families finally settled in Oregon, near Corvallis. In 1949 he and his family moved to Halfway, Oregon and he worked in the logging industry for eleven years for NC Jones. In 1960 they moved to Ukiah, Oregon and for seven years logged for Harris Pine Mills of Pendleton. After that he became a contractor for the U.S. Forest Service building roads and in 1970 he worked as a contractor for the U.S. Soil Conservation building soil protection dikes in the wheat fields surrounding Heppner until finally retiring in Cove in 1995. All his life he was an active member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. His hobbies were a love for gardening, metal working and music.

Mr. Kemmerer is survived by his wife, Thelma, of 64 years; daughter and son-in-law, Sue and Jim Patchin of Boise, Idaho; grandson, Todd Patchin of Walla Walla, Washington; granddaughter, Michele "Patchin" Homon of Boise; one great-grandson, Dylan Honon; numerous nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his son, Johnnie.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Cove SDA Church, PO Box 188, Cove, Oregon 97824.
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