Biography

Loran "Stub" LaSells Stewart was born in Cottage Grove, Oregon, in 1911. He grew up in logging towns in Lane County, except for a few years during World War I, when his family lived in Eugene. He studied forestry engineering at Oregon State University, graduating in 1932. The next year, he began working as a road locating engineer for the U.S. Forest Service in the Willamette National Forest. In 1936, he and Dorothy Elizabeth McDonald were married; they later had two children. He was called to active duty in 1942 and served in China during World War II. After his discharge in 1946, he returned to his job at the Forest Service, but left a few months later to work for Pope & Talbot Company. Later that year, he bought out Bohemia Lumber Company, but remained as an engineer for Pope & Talbot until 1950. He was a Republican politician and represented Lane County in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1951 to 1955. He continued to run Bohemia Lumber Company until his retirement in 1976, and he remained on the board until 1991, when the company was bought out by Willamette Industries. He also served on the forestry committee at the Oregon State University Research Laboratory, the Lane County Parks Commission, and the State Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. After his death in 2005, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department named a park after him. The L.L. “Stub” Stewart State Park was opened in Washington County, Oregon, in 2007.

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