Wasco-Hood River County OR Archives Obituaries.....Foster, Lee Russell August 2006
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com December 30, 2006, 10:03 pm

The Dalles Chronicle, August 28,  2006
     Funeral services for Lee Russell Foster, 94, will be held Sept. 3 at 3 
p.m. at the Asbury United Methodist Church, 616 State Street, Hood River.

     He was born April 21, 1912 to Charles and Medora Foster at the family 
home near Hanford, Washington.

     He attended the one-room Muir elementary school and graduated from 
Hanford High School in 1929. In 1933 he received a degree in general 
agriculture from Washington State College. Due to the Depression, he worked 
with his father on the family ranch for the next two years.

     While visiting relatives in Grandview, Tenn., he met Naomi Wyatt, who 
lived in Abingdon, Va.. After two and a half years of corresponding, the two 
married.

     They began their life together in Davenport, Wash. in 1936, where he was 
the staff chairman of the Lincoln County Extension Office and involved in 
agricultural and 4-H youth extension projects. 

     Both he and Naomi were active in the local Methodist church, the Grange 
and other community activities. In 1947 he received an appointment to the 
extension division of Oregon State University and the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture as a county agent in Milton-Freewater. 

     In 1949 he was appointed Agricultural Extension agent and staff chairman 
of the Hood River County Extension Service. At some point during the 1950s he 
was promoted to full professor in the extension division and upon retirement 
was granted Emeritus status by the university. 

     As County Agent he advised farmers, guided the 4-H program and helped 
establish a unique relationship between the county and the schools which 
resulted in the present day site of the Hood River County Fair. He was also 
involved in other community activities ranging from planning and designing 
parks in the county, to landscaping schools and other public places, to giving 
direction to the Neighborhood Youth Corps. Although he loved his work, he 
wanted others to receive the credit. 

     He received several awards and recognitions over the course of his career 
including the Hood River County Citizen of the Year in 1957 and the 
Certificate of Distinguished Service from the National Association of 
Agricultural Extension agents in 1970. He served as president of the Oregon 
Agricultural Agents Association in 1970-71. He was inducted into the Oregon 4-
H Hall of Fame in 2005. 

     Since 1950 he had been a member of the Asbury United Methodist Church 
where he has served as a youth leader, Sunday school teacher, lay leader, and 
held numerous other offices. 

     After his retirement from the Extension Service in 1973, he served as a 
member of the Diamond Fruit Association Board of Directors for five years and 
was involved in several community landscaping projects. His interests in 4-H, 
the extension service, agriculture, and community service continued through 
his retirement years.

     He is survived by his wife, Naomi; sons, Charles and his wife, Janet and 
David and his wife, Colleen; daughter-in-law, Linda Foster; daughters Nancy 
Nauman and her husband Kermit and Anne Holmstrom and her husband Randy; and 
brother Guy Foster of Bellingham, Wash. 

     He had ten grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces 
and nephews. 

     He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters, Lenore and Alice, and 
son, Larry.

     In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial contributions be 
given to Asbury United Methodist Church or to the Hood River County 4-H 
Leader's Association c/o Anderson's Tribute Center, 1401 Belmont Avenue, Hood 
River, 97031, (541) 386-1000, www.andersonstributecenter.com.


Additional Comments:
Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, 
Oregon, Dan Spatz, Editor (e-mail dated 3/7/2006).


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