Photo By: Wilsonville SpokesmanElmer George Boeckman
Elmer was responsible for the naming of the road after his family name.
One of Wilsonville’s “founding fathers” may never have wanted to be in Wilsonville to begin with.
But his family name has become synonymous with this city, including a road and school named in his honor.
Elmer George Boeckman died Nov. 5, 2009, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 91 years old.
Elmer was born on Oct. 9, 1981, to George and Anna (Ridder) Boeckman. He grew up in Wilsonville, but with a Sherwood address.
“When Dad found out that our mailing address would be changed from a Sherwood address to a Wilsonville address, he went to the county office in Oregon City and suggested that the road be named Boeckman Road, since everyone who lived there was, indeed a Boeckman,” said his daughter Judi Martin.
The county agreed to the idea — and Elmer stayed. In November 1990, Elmer and his family were honored guests at the dedication of the Boeckman Creek Primary School. In 2007, Boeckman Road was expanded to the Villebois development.
Unfortunately, Elmer’s health was too poor for him to witness the event.
Elmer graduated from West Linn High School, having run the family farm with the help of his mother, brother Don, uncles and cousins, after his father passed away when Elmer was 10 years old.
They managed 40 acres, just one-quarter of the original 160-acre land grant his grandparents received when they emigrated from Germany, said Martin.
The rest of the acreage was divided among the other Boeckman sons, Ernest, Edward and Henry. Each of them farmed their properties along Boeckman Road, said Martin. Elmer was the last of the third generation of six generations of Boeckmans.
For decades, Elmer milked cows morning and night. But it was a labor of love, as he groomed and cared for his Guernsey cows, showing them at county and state fairs. He won many blue ribbons for his animals, Martin said.
Elmer and his family lived on Boeckman Road until 1983 when the final parcel was sold. But they didn’t go far, opting to move just a half-mile away to Frogpond Lane where Elmer grew and maintained 10 acres of Christmas trees.
Although Elmer held several jobs and retired from the Clackamas County Grange Supply Store, his first love was the land that he’d grown up on and tended to, his daughter said.
In 1991, they sold the Christmas tree farm and moved to the Meadows area of Wilsonville, “where he maintained the best lawn in the neighborhood.”
His wife Hilda, whom he married on Nov. 23, 1941, still lives in the Meadows, not far from their original Boeckman Road home.
Martin remembers that her father had few hobbies other than farming, yet he loved to dance.
“My mother and father were fabulous waltzers,” she said. “They loved to dance, and the grange hall used to have dances, with music provided by local people. They actually belonged to a square dance club, but they were beautiful waltzers.”
At their 50th wedding anniversary, Martin hired a live band and asked her parents to dance a waltz. When she got married in 1992, she again asked her parents to dance a waltz at the reception.
“That was an interesting thing,” she said. “Who would think of a hard-edged farmer working in the field would be such an elegant, graceful dancer?”
Elmer also was known as a very sharp-dresser, who went to meetings at the Wilsonville Oddfellows or the grange hall in his pressed slacker, jacket and Fedora hat.
Elmer and Hilda were longtime members of Frogpond Church. Both Elmer’s father and grandfather helped build the church in about 1878, Martin said.
“I think it’s fabulous to have such a history in Wilsonville,” she said. “My sister (Candy Bennett, a Wilsonville bank manager) and I laugh about it, occasionally, of the connections we have.”
Elmer was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Don. He is survived by his wife of 68 years Hilda; daughters, Judi Martin (and husband, Tom) of Milwaukie; Candy Bennett (and husband Mike) of Wilsonville; son, Steven of Wilsonville; and grandson Ryan Bennett of Tualatin.
A memorial service will take place at Meridian United Church of Christ, Wilsonville, at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, where Elmer was a life-long member.
Remembrances may be sent to the Meridian United Church of Christ, PO Box 917, Wilsonville, 97070. n