Flashback: Man found dead of shotgun wound 75 years ago

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, July 23, 2025

100 Years Ago

July 30, 1925 — Issue missing…

75 Years Ago

July 27, 1950 — Airbase Cannery To Be Operated Every Tuesday

The community cannery at the Redmond airbase will be open on Tuesdays, instead of Mondays, Supervisor Wayne Reddekopp has announced.

The change was made at the request of housewives who said they could not get the fruit they wanted on Mondays.

Hours will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays.

Opening day records at the cannery showed 213 cans processed, and 153 were counted on the second day. A variety of foodstuffs, including cherries, apricots, greens and chicken, was reported.

Pointing out that the figures showed a small turnout, Reddekopp commented that more people will have to take advantage of the cannery facilities or it cannot be kept open.

At present, the charge is ten cents for each can, and that includes the cooking and processing as well as the can, he explained. If more people use the cannery, the price can be lowered, he added.

Persons taking their fruits, vegetables and meats to the cannery prepare the food and seal the cans. The cannery does the rest.

Death Summons Mrs. Read, 94

Grizzly Pioneer Here Since Year 1872

Mrs. Hettie Elizabeth Read, 94, who had lived in central Oregon since 1872 when she was 16, died Wednesday afternoon in Madras at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Turner.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. from the Madras Christian church, with Rev. D. L. Penhollow of Redmond in charge. Zacher mortuary is making arrangements.

Hettie Elizabeth Montgomery was born May 15, 1856, at Brownsville, moving to Grizzly with her family when she was 16 years old. Twice the Montgomerys had to leave here and return to the valley because of Indian uprisings.

At the time she was married to Perry Read, December 16, 1873, he had to ride horseback to The Dalles for the license. The Reeds moved to Culver, where the old grange hall was located, in 1896, and to Madras in 1910. Read died March 26, 1933.

Mrs. Read is survived by two of her five children, Mrs. Pearl Turner of Madras and James P. Read of Culver. She also leaves. two sisters, Mrs. Leola Cleek of Albany and Mrs. May Houk of Tigard, and one other brother, George E. Montgomery of Portland.

Johnson Starts Field Inspections

Elmer Johnson, OSC certification specialist, started field inspections on certified seed potato acreage in central Oregon counties this week.

Area growers have registered 350 acres for certification this year, according to Jim Elings,” county agent. Specialists make two field inspections annually.

Johnson’s is the first of the current season.

Man Found Dead Of Shotgun Wound

Dead as the result of a shotgun wound through his heart, a man about 34 years old was found Wednesday morning on a side road between Camp Sherman and Suttle lake.

Bill Laddrow, tender at a sheep camp nearby, discovered the body when his horse stopped and refused to move forward.

State Police Officer John Newell, Sheriff Bern Gard and Coroner E. W. Mason of Madras were summoned and made their investigation, after which Herbert Zacher brought the body to Redmond.

Near the body was a 1947 Ford pickup registered to Earl Eugene Davidson, Route 1, Box 253, Woodburn, and papers found on the body also bore this name.

Davidson was identified this afternoon by Dr. Raymond F. Jones. He was a nephew of Mrs. Jones.

The shotgun which apparently had fired the fatal shot was found near the body.

It was reported that earlier in the morning a passerby had seen the man in the car presumably asleep. Death has occurred only a short time before Laddrow discovered the body, it was ascertained.

50 Years Ago

July 30, 1975 — Stock subscription drive for industrial development begins

A stock subscription drive aimed at producing a pool of funds for industrial development in the Redmond area was scheduled for kickoff at a breakfast meeting this morning at the 86 Corral Club.

The Redmond Chamber of Commerce industrial development committee had made a decision earlier in the month to form a Redmond Industrial Development Corp. as the spearheading organization, according to committee chairman Gerold Barrett.

Keith Erickson, attorney, drew up the corporate structure, which was scheduled for review by the committee at this morning’s meeting.

The corporation is to be composed of a group of public-spirited citizens interested in planned economic growth of the community. Ownership and control is to be held by persons living or doing business in Redmond.

By having a minimum of 25 stockholders, the corporation could become eligible for Small Business Administration loans of up to $350,000.

Airport fire-crash rig rebid

Redmond City Council, during a special meeting Friday noon, decided to resubmit for bids a crash-fire rig for the airport after the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to fund 82 per cent of the cost of increasing the vehicle’s tank size from 1,000 to 1,500 gallons.

The apparatus originally had gone to bid with a specified tank capacity of 1,000 gallons, which meets FFA requirements for an airport of Roberts Field’s level. FAA was to pay 82 per cent of the cost for the 1,000 gallon rig.

Redmond officials, however, felt that the larger tank capacity would better meet local needs and would preclude the unit’s becoming outdated if the level of airline service to Redmond were increased.

Earlier city council had awarded the contract to the low bidder among three firms submitting bids on the 1,000-gallon tank rig, but asked the winning firm to increase the tank by 500 gallons. The city was prepared to pay the full cost of the additional gallonage.

Problems arose when the two losing bidders objected to the gallonage specifications being enlarged after awarding of bids. Ray Faulkner, FAA regional airport operations officer, and an attorney for FAA were in Redmond last Wednesday to encourage city officials to resubmit the apparatus for bid.

At that time the FAA officials agreed to pay the additional cost and to give the city an extension beyond the January, 1976, deadline by which the new rig was to be in service. The special-constructed fire-crash vehicles often take a year or more for fabrication.

Beyond increasing the tank size, fire chief Hoy Fultz said he planned to make other minor adjustments, including a requirement for a diesel, rather than gasoline, engine.

The motion to rescind the former action of awarding bids and to resubmit the apparatus for rebidding was passed unanimously by council. Councilman Don Fraley, an employe of FAA, participated in the voting.

In other action, council authorized the borrowing of $13,728.09 to pay the city’s 16.4 per cent of engineering fees due to Century-West Engineering, Bend, for work done on the airport reconstruction project. The money is to be repaid from airport revenues.

Thieves, vandals raise havoc with properties in Redmond

A rash of thefts and vandalism kept Redmond police busy during the past week.

Thefts included a report by Gale Ireton of McMinnville that four truck tires valued at $625 had been taken from his truck while parked in a field behind the City Center Motel, where he was staying Tuesday night of last week.

Sterling Widmark, Terrebonne, told police last Monday that an eight-track tape deck-FM radio combination valued at $400 plus 10 tapes had been taken from his vehicle early in the morning while it was parked in front of Allied Village Apartments.

A down-filled sleeping bag and cowboy boots valued at $85 were taken from a car owned by David Jaqua, 1228 S.W. 17th St., while it was parked near his residence last Sunday night.

Also stolen from a parked vehicle was a battery owned by Harley Thom, 1432 S. 11th St. It was taken Monday night of last week.

Lola Koops, 2667 N.W. Helmholtz Way, reported the theft Wednesday of last week of her purse out of a shopping cart while shopping at Safeway. Missing were $30 in currency, various papers and a checkbook, which resulted in a forged check later in the week.

Bikes were reported stolen by Marvin Peterson, 1421 N. Ninth St.; Dawn Wales, 435 S. 11th St.; Cecil Whitehead, Bend, and Brett De Cair, Western Village Apartments No. 54.

Barbara Williams told police Friday afternoon that a window to her unit at Western Village Apartments had been pried loose in an apparent unsuccessful attempt at burglary.

No value has been placed on the damage vandals caused to the yard of Monica Ivancovich, 809 W. Hemlock Ave. She reported Wednesday of last week that garden statues had been broken, a fence torn down and For Sale signs put up.

Earlier in the week Mike Mollman had told police that someone had shot the window out of his house at 1544 W. Obsidian Ave.

Vandals caused an estimated $250 damage to Redmond School District buses Monday night of last week when they broke locks and windows on buses parked in the bus garage on Rimrock Drive. Wayne Gordon reported the vandalism.

Last Saturday David Pickles said a tire on his car had been slashed the night before while he was at the drive-in theater.

25 Years Ago

July 26, 2000 — Issue missing…