John Bigelow Gearhart, 1914 - 2001
John Bigelow Gearhart, 1914 - 2001
Children of John and Marian (Anderson) Gearhart:
1592C.351711 Margaret Louise Gearhart, Dr, b
____
; d _____ ; m 28 Oct 1972 Kenton Brooks; m Steve Wright; of Edina, MN;
1592C.351712 Eileen Gearhart, b ____ ; d
_____ ; m (1) ___ Reiswig; m (2) John Cole; of Eugene, OR
1592C.351713 John A. Gearhart, b ____ ; d
_____ ; of Eugene, OR
1592C.351714 Brice N. Gearhart, b ____ ; d
_____ ; of Empire, OR
Sources:
Family records;
Latter Day Saints microfiche records
Census records;
Forge: The Bigelow Society Quarterly; Vol. 31, No.1 page 7; Jan
2002
(see obituary below)
Bigelow Society
Past
President John Bigelow Gearhart of Coos Bay, OR died in North Bend
on
09 November 2001 after a long illness. He was born 20 January 1914 on
the
Gearhart farm at Dora, Coos County, OR, the son of Dora E. Bigelow and
John
Neal Gearhart, and married Marian L. Anderson on 03 January 1942 in
Pasadena,
CA.
John attended a one-room country school and
graduated
from Myrtle Point High School in 1932. During the Great Depression, he
began
his working career as a surveyor's chain-man on weekends and vacations.
He
began working his way through Oregon Agricultural College in 1934.
Commissioned
as a second lieutenant at Oregon State College in 1941, he served with
the
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in Canada, locating the first section of
the Alcan Highway north from Fort Nelson. In Europe, he was in Bastogne
during the Battle of the Bulge. He received an honorable discharge as
first lieutenant, having received four Bronze Stars.
John received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil
engineering
from Oregon State College in 1946. In 1959, he was the first registered
engineer to become registered as a land surveyor. The September/October
1997 issue of The Oregon Professional Engineer was quoted saying, "John
is our definition of dependable." He came from a long line of surveyors
as his father. grandfather and great-grandfather were all land
surveyors before him.
John was a faithful member and often officer of
many
professional organizations, including the American Society of Civil
Engineers,
National Society of Professional Engineers, American Congress on
Surveying
and Mapping, Professional Engineers of Oregon and Professional Land
Surveyors
of Oregon. He was the first surveyor licensed member of the State Board
of
Engineering Examiners from 1969-1975. He was a longtime member of Coos
County
Planning Commission. His interests included working on cars, piloting
his
own airplane and travelling with his wife in their RV. They visited 49
states
during several cross-country trips. John was a member of the Oregon
Coast
Historical Railway Museum, working to restore Engine No. 104, in Coos
Bay
in recent years.
John was first elected as a director for the
Bigelow
Society at the Seattle, WA Reunion in 1980. His mother, Dora Bigelow
Gearhart,
a pioneer schoolteacher and dedicated family historian, had
encouraged
his deep interest in the Bigelow family. Dora and her niece, Laurel
Barklow,
worked with Pat and Ed Bigelow in the formation of the Bigelow Society.
In
1982. at the Daytona Beach. FL Reunion, John agreed to become President
of
the Bigelow Society, a position he held until 1986. He also gave much
time and effort to the preparation and publication of Volumes I and II
of the Bigelow
Family Genealogy and to the creanon of operating manuals for officers.
Long-time
members may remember the several occasions when he piloted his own
Cessna
182 to reunions
Hc is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years,
Marian
Gearhart of Coos Bay; sons, John A. Gearhart of Bridge, OR and Brice N.
Gearhart
of Coos Bay; daughters, Louise Wright of Minneapolis, MN and Eileen
Cole
of Eugene, OR: sisters, Hazel Clark of Elkton, OR and Agnes Garner of
Cottage
Grove, OR: brother, Clark Gearhart of Bridge; and three
granddaughters.
He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Hugh.
Cremation was at Ocean View Memory Gardens, Coos
Bay.
Family inurnment services will be held at a later date at Dora
Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the Oregon Coast
Historical
Railway Association, P. O. Box 4174, Coos Bay, OR, 97420.
Marian Anderson Gearhart
Obituary: January 7, 2011
<
rodbigelow@netzero.net > 
