Raymond Mervyn Northam was born in 1929 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but moved to Washington state as a child. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Oregon State College (now Oregon State University) and a doctorate from Northwestern University. He taught economic and urban geography at the University of Georgia, Portland State University in Oregon, Yale University in Connecticut, and Oregon State University. He retired from the Department of Geosciences at Oregon State University in 1991.

Northam married Joyce Hout in 1953. He died in 2003.

Source: Obituary published by Corvallis Gazette-Times (accessed December 2025), https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/gazettetimes/name/raymond-northam-obituary?id=13642428

Alsea (also written as Alcea) is an unincorparated community in the Coast Range near the juncture of the North and South Forks of the Alsea River in Benton County, Oregon, about 26 miles west of Corvallis. The name is derived from the Alsi or Alseya Native band that lived near the lower Alsea River's estuary and who used trails through the upper Alsea Valley. The first mention of an "Alseya Settlement" appeared on a General Land Office survey map in the 1850s. A post office was established in 1871. After World War II, when lumber production in Oregon boomed, several sawmills operated in the valley, though production consolidation led to the closure of nearly all the mills by the early 1970s. Environmental restrictions in the 1990s further affected timber production in the area. In the 21st century, the majority of the area's residents commute to the Willamette Valley for work.

Source: "Alsea (Alcea)," by William G. Robbins, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/alsea_alcea_/