Hayes Latimer Bickford Jr. Obituary (1927

Hayes Latimer Bickford Jr. (Bud to his friends) with family at his bedside passed away Thursday, November 15, 2018 in Grapevine, Texas. Born in Portland, OR on June 27, 1927, his parents were Hayes L. Bickford and Elizabeth Ann Campbell Bickford. He and his sister Clara Elizabeth (Halvorson) lived the first few years of their lives in Pine Grove, OR where the family had a general store and a 20 acre apple orchard. In the late 20's a hard freeze destroyed the Orchard and in 1930 his father was offered a job in Hillsboro, OR as manager of the Terminal Ice and Cold Storage Co's new plant. He described their arrival in Hillsboro as being like a scene from the Grapes of Wrath – mattresses and old furniture piled up high on a model T Ford truck. Hillsboro in those days had a population of 3,000 and everybody knew everyone else. If you did something wrong, it wasn't long before your parents found out. In Bud's case this happened "once or twice." At six years old, Bud was enrolled in St. Matthews. The school taught grades 1-4 in one room and 5 through 8 in another. Bud recalls that the nuns from St. Mary's of the Valley were very strict. You did as you were told or you got a ruler. You took the well-deserved punishment and hoped that news did not get back to your parents where you were likely to get another dose. At St. Matthews he would meet his first Coussens, Art, who would become a lifelong friend. The War started in December of Bud's first year at Hil-Hi and by his senior year at Central Catholic he signed up for the Navy. Boot camp started June 15 th , 1945 and Bud was being trained to be a landing craft driver – not a particularly good job on the Pacific at that time. Years later he would joke that "they heard he was coming so they surrendered." Bud had an interesting time sailing around the Pacific in the Navy. He recalled working at Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, getting a chit every evening that was good for two beers at the Ships Store. One night while they were at a movie their gear was unexpectedly moved to a better barracks. Later they found out that Time Magazine published a letter describing the deplorable condition of their barracks while they slaved away building the officers a new tennis court. I guess the proverbial – hit the fan. The USS Soley DD707 came in to port one day and in infinite Navy wisdom they filled in empty positions in alphabetical order. On the Soley he learned how to paint the side of a ship – scrape, wire brush, scrape again, and then paint. Despite his enthusiasm for painting, he quickly parlayed his typing skills into another job in the supply office. On Christmas day 1945 the Soley ran into a small typhoon that blew them 300 miles off course and sent their holiday turkeys sliding out over the galley floor. This prompted a visit to Yokohama Bay and eventually back to Portland Maine via the Panama Canal. The Navy had enough of him by July of 1946 and ended his 400 day 25,000 mile paid cruise with a cross country train trip to Bremerton, WA. After deciding he did not want to freeze to death in the ice plant working for his dad the rest of his life, Bud enrolled at the University of Portland where he got his BA in Business. His graduation present was a loan from his parents, used to buy a 1950 Ford Coupe – he paid this back with interest. One fateful evening in 1953 Al Coussens knocked on the front door. He and his wife had two girls in the back of the car and they were heading to the Tillicum Tavern. Several weeks later he called one of those girls back (as promised) and the travelling salesman started dating the farmer's daughter (Anna Mary Coussens). They were engaged in November 1953 and married at St. Mathews on July 6, 1954. After a honeymoon to Vancouver and Victoria BC, they packed all of their worldly possessions into Ann's Dad's pickup truck and relocated to Salem, OR. Like most young couples after the War they quickly prepared for the pitter patter of little feet. In July of 1955 they welcomed their first, James Hayes. In June of 1957 Bud was offered a promotion to the San Francisco Bay Area and shortly after the move Janice Mary was born in October of 1957. Bud would later join the Topline Equipment Company in Portland where his boss (who had a company plane) convinced him to get his private pilot's license. In 1966 he joined Clark Equipment Company and the family moved to Danville, CA where Jim and Jan grew up and finished high school. Bud recalls that at that time Ann wanted to join him on a business trip to Hawaii; the deal was that if she could find someone to take care of the kids then she could come. An hour later Ann had that task completed. Bud and his boss from Topline started a company they named PITCO, which they later sold to C. Itoh and Co. This started his career working for Japanese lift trucks and had them headed to Houston, TX. Jan graduated from high school in Danville on a Friday and the movers were at the house on Monday. According to Bud, you can still see the heel skid marks on the I-10 freeway heading toward Texas. In June of 1979 both Jan and Jim would be married. Jan married Terry McCarter and several weeks later Jim married Nancy Dow. This opened the door to a new chapter of adventures for Bud and Ann. Over the next decade they would visit Europe a handful of times including Amsterdam, London, visiting Ann's relatives in Belgium (where they stayed a night in a cold convent in separate beds). They visited Fran and Ken Kelly in Germany where Jim and Nancy were stationed while serving in the Army. They also visited Hong Kong and Japan, where they were reportedly treated like royalty by Bud's company, including a friend who took Ann shopping in a black limo with a driver who wore white gloves. In retirement Bud and Ann moved back to Hillsboro, remodeling the house Bud's parent's build in 1941. Over the next two decades the two travelled and had adventures in Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, Panama amongst many others. Joining them on various adventures included family and friends: The Foelkers, the Halvorsons, The Coussens, the Vandeheys, the Kelly's, the McCarters, and Bickford's. In 2004 the immediate family got together for a cruise to Alaska, this time it included four grandkids (James, Michael, Jessica, and Kristin). Bud would later recall that this was one of his favorite memories, right up there with the 1984 family vacation to Hawaii. Bud passed away November 15, 2018. He was 91 years old and had celebrated his 64 th wedding anniversary with his wife and ever-patient, best friend Anna Mary earlier in the year. Bud was a unique individual with what he described as a perverted sense of humor. He believed in frugality, family, and faith. He liked to say that a year from now you won't even remember your biggest problem today, that faith in God made life easier and more worthwhile, and that none of us knows what the future holds, but we should be looking forward to it; we don't have any other choice anyway. Bud is survived by his loving wife, Ann, his children Jim and Jan, and Grandchildren James, Michael Jessica, and Kristin. The family is planning to gather at McMenamins 205, 97210 SE Washington St., Portland. Please join us to reminisce and tell your stories about Bud. In lieu of flowers the family encourages friends to donate to their favorite charity in Bud's name. Thank You for supporting us.