Loren L. Wyss

Wyss, Loren L. 79 April 12, 1934 April 28, 2013 Loren Wyss was the son and grandson of Swiss and German immigrants and felt that informed his personality and character. He was witty, ironic and generous. Born in Portland, he attended Fernwood Grade School and Grant High School, where he made life-long friends. He spent his summers in Long Beach, Wash., with his teacher mother, Lillie, his aunt, Evelyn, his sister, Shirley and brother, Richard, in a vacation house built by his grandfather, Ernst Hasenmayer. As a teenager, he worked for his Swiss father, Richard, in his meat-packing business. Loren graduated from Harvard College, spending three years in the Army between his junior and senior years, became president of WHRB (the Harvard radio station) and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He returned to Portland where he worked as a stockbroker at Blythe and Co., started Lincoln Securities, then became an investment counselor for Rippey, Inskeep, Hess and McFaul. With his partners, he founded Columbia Growth Mutual Fund. He served on the board of Pioneer Savings and Loan and was appointed to the Oregon Board of Higher Education by then Governor Bob Straub. He was the President of the Board of WICHE, President of the Board of TriMet and a trustee of the Templeton Foundation. He was a member of the board of the Oregon Investment Council and of Western Communications at the time of his death. During the 70s, he wrote and delivered a series of daily economic reports for KXL. Years afterward, his voice was recognized by strangers who told him how much they enjoyed his broadcasts. He was proudest of having set up the Wyss Foundation, originally intended to support the arts, but increasingly, he felt the need to support social, animal, and environmental causes as well. In 1985, Loren and his wife, Judy, bought St. Mary's Cottage, a 16th century house, in Ely, England, where they spent four months of the year until his death. It was there that he suffered a massive stroke on Oct. 20, 2012. After two months in Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, his wife flew him back to his native Portland. He spent four months at Laurelhurst Village Rehabilitation, across the street from a renovated storefront, originally built in 1891, by Wilhelm Landauer, his great-grandfather. Realizing that he would not have the use of his legs, arms and hands, he refused food and drink, choosing to die. A week after his decision, he died on April 28. He is survived by his wife of almost 51 years, Judith; his children, Emily, Jenny (Martin Schubert), Isabel (Todd Ebersole), Edmund (Melissa); two granddaughters, Anna and Simone; his brother, Richard Wyss; niece, Stacie Wyss-Schoenborn; nephew, Chris Wyss; and his Swiss cousins. In lieu of flowers, please give to your favorite charity. A memorial has been scheduled for Sunday, May 19, 4-7 p.m. in the Lownsdale Room of the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland.