Wayne R. Howe: 1920 – 2008
Crater Lake Institute
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
May 21, 2009
On November 7, 2008, Wayne R. Howe, former Crater Lake National Park ranger, died at the age of 88.
Wayne Howe was born in Ontario, Oregon on October 18, 1920. His family moved to Coos Bay, Oregon in 1927, then Eugene, Oregon, and lastly, Roseburg, Oregon. He graduated from Roseburg High School in 1938 and then received a Fish and Game Management degree at Oregon State College (now Oregon State University). As a First Lieutenant in the Army, during WWII, he served briefly in Germany and later in the Korean War, from 1950-1951.
Wayne had a 30-year career in the National Park Service, starting in 1946 at Crater Lake, and ending in 1976, at the Northwest Regional Office in Seattle, Washington, where he was an associate director. He held Park Ranger positions in six western national parks, including Chief Ranger in Yellowstone.
He married Jean Cloake of Roseburg in 1943 and they were married for 57 years until Jean’s death in 2000.
Wayne R. Howe Oral History Interview excerpt:
Where did you grow up and what is your educational background?
I was born in Ontario, Oregon, which is over in the eastern part of the state. My father was in the laundry business over there. I went through the first grade in Ontario and then my folks decided to move over to this side of the mountains. I’ve always been very thankful that they did, because I would have hated to grow up in Ontario. I just don’t like that part of the country that well although we go back there and I have an Aunt that still lives in Ontario. We came over here to this part of the country in 1927, and first went to what was then call Marshfield, and which is now Coos Bay. Then to Eugene, and then to Roseburg in 1928, and finally settled in Roseburg for good in 1929. I went to grade school and high school. I graduated from high school at Roseburg high school in 1938. We just celebrated our 50th Anniversary about two weeks ago. I then stayed out of school for a year to work to make a little money. Then went on to Oregon State College [now Oregon State University], and got my Bachelor of Science Degree in 1943 in Fish and Game Management. I was in the military at the time that I graduated and we were the only class in history at Oregon State that graduated in uniform. Then I spent three years and several months in the military service. Incidentally, I was married about three days before I graduated from college, down in Roseburg. Jean is a Roseburg girl. She’s with me here today and she will undoubtedly have something to say about this. She had a lot to do with Crater Lake days.
Other pages in this section
- Government will buy $1 million of land in Siskiyou monument – October 30, 2009
- OIT Environmental Science Students Learn at Crater Lake – Oct. 22, 2009
- Three missing people found: hunters, mushroom hunter located Saturday – October 18, 2009
- Crater Lake Wilderness: Oregon’s ‘best idea’ needs protection – October 17, 2009
- Wet weather ends fire season around region – October 13, 2009
- Roosevelt historian: He was a ‘thinker’; Brinkley will share stories from new book inaugural lecture – October 12, 2009
- Prescribed burn postponed at Crater Lake: Park Service to wait until forecasts are more favorable – October 9, 2009
- Prescribed burns set for next few months: Agencies will burn nearly 15,000 acres, mostly in Jackson, Josephine counties – October 9, 2009
- Search exercise to cover area where boy was lost – September 11, 2009
- National Park Service Announces Appointment of Dr. Gary Machlis as Science Advisor to the Director – August 12, 2009
- Extra pair pays off in Crater Lake Rim Runs – August 9, 2009
- Wilderness proposed at Crater Lake – August 07, 2009
- Oregon Wild warns legal action on Crater Lake helicopters – August 6, 2009
- Cantwell: Jarvis Well-Qualified for the ‘Greatest Job in the World’ – July 28, 2008
- Senator Wyden issues statement condemning Crater Lake National park helicopter tours – July 27, 2009
- Desert Ridge Wildland Fire continues burning at Crater Lake National Park – July 21, 2009
- Whitney Wildland Fire nears containment at Crater Lake National Park – July 21, 2009
- Cameron (Cam) Sholly has been selected as the new superintendent of Natchez Trace Parkway – July 15, 2009
- Rep. Dicks supports Jon Jarvis for nomination of National Park Service Director – July 10, 2009
- USGS volcanologist Charles Bacon gives Mount Mazama geologic history talk – June 23, 2009
- USGS volcanologist Charles Bacon receives award at Crater Lake National Park – July 8, 2009
- Review: Geologic Map of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon by Charles R. Bacon – July 7, 2009
- Free entrance weekends at Crater Lake National Park – June 20, 2009
- Oregon Congressman Proposes “Aerial Gondola” to Wizard Island – Summer/Fall 2009
- Lichen Survey Hits the Jackpot One-Day “BioBlitz” Uncovers 61 Species Not Previously Recorded at Crater Lake – Summer/Fall 2009
- A Conversation with the Park’s Chief of Terrestrial Ecology – Summer/Fall 2009
- Black Bear Census Set to Begin: Park to Estimate Population Using Hair Samples and DNA – Summer/Fall 2009
- A promise fulfilled on roadless forests – May 28, 2009
- Crater Lake Lodge opens for 2009 season – May 21, 2009
- Marcella Isabella Stine (1918 – 2009) – May 22, 2009
- Lawrence Campbell Merriam Jr. (1923 – 2008) – May 22, 2009
- Passing of John Bowdler (1925 – 2009) – May 4, 2009
- Parks receive stimulus funds: Crater Lake, Lava Beds to use funding for improvements – April 24, 2009
- Mercy Flights makes life-saving donation to Crater Lake park – February 24, 2009
- Rescue at Crater Lake: specialized rescue team saves man from icy slope – February 2, 2009
- Former National Park Service director George B. Hartzog Jr. dies – January 31, 2009
- Ski patrol member watches over park: Niel Barrett is a charter member of the ski patrol at Crater Lake National Park – January 30, 2009
- Paradise in Blue: Snowshoe trek at Crater Lake informative, easy, free – January 22, 2009
