Edward John "Ed" Kamholz

Edward 'Ed' John Kamholz
Aug. 6, 1946 - July 3, 2019
Noted forest and railroad historian and author Edward J. Kamholz has died. Kamholz, age 72, a longtime Vancouver, Wash., resident, passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends July 3, 2019, of complications from ALS.
Ed was born Aug. 6, 1946 to the late Amy Hughes Kamholz and Marvin Kamholz of Vernonia, Ore. His older brother Greg passed away in February 2018 at age 75. Survivors include a son, Mark Jordan-Kamholz; his life partner Eileen Culligan of Portland; and several cousins.
Kamholz was the driving force behind the research and writing of The Oregon-American Lumber Company: Ain't No More, an award-winning Stanford University Press book published in 2003 that chronicles the rise, operation and demise of one of the West Coast's busiest mills and lumber companies between the mid-1920s until the 1950s.
He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1968 with a degree in Business Management and was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in Vietnam. Kamholz later earned an M.B.A. from the University of Portland and then began a career in the technology sector, serving as project manager, marketing manager and strategic planner for companies including Western Electric, International Telephone and Telegraph Company, Plantronix and the Austin Company, working in Portland, Chicago area and then the San Francisco Bay area.
Kamholz left the corporate world in the late 1980s, earned a degree in graphic design for print in 2001, began his second career as a book designer, and continued his forest history research. He served multiple terms as a member of the State Forest Advisory Committee, a multi-stakeholder group that advises the Oregon Department of Forestry on state forest management related topics.
In recent years, Kamholz launched and led the Oregon Historic Railroads Project, an effort to map every mile of railroad in Oregon to better understand the evolution of transportation corridors and early development of Oregon. Kamholz traveled throughout Oregon and Washington as a guest lecturer and researcher on railroad history. He fully mapped the rail corridor that runs along the Nehalem and Salmonberry rivers in Northwest Oregon and in his final days established a framework to complete mapping of all rail lines in Northwest Oregon.
Time shared with partner Eileen Culligan, international travel, flyfishing and exploring almost any topic of western history were passions for Ed.
His February 2019 ALS diagnosis cut short a life marked by intellectual curiosity, outdoor adventure, a deep respect for history and a love of Oregon's forests. Contributions in his memory may be made to the ALS Association of Oregon.
A memorial for Ed is planned for 2 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, at the Tillamook Forest Center, 45500 Wilson River Highway, Tillamook, OR.
Please sign the online guest book at www.oregonlive.com/obits