Warren Russell Weathers

Warren Russell Weathers was born to Cicely and Warren "Stormy" Weathers in LaJolla, California, on February 17, 1947, and died in Springfield, Oregon, of complications from Alzheimer's at the age of 74 on July 30, 2021.
He graduated from Lowell High School in 1965 and attended Southern Oregon College from 1965-67, then graduated from Oregon State University in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Management. He earned a Master's of Business Administration from the University of Oregon in 1985.
Warren was born into a Navy family and grew up living in Norfolk, VA; Odgen, IL; Berkeley, CA; Yokosuka, Japan; and Astoria, OR before settling in Lowell, OR in 1958. His sister, Nancy, recalls his being an anchor for her during this time – a companion, friend and protector. In 1967 he married Dena Drorbaugh and had two sons, Nathan and Stuart. Dena and Warren later divorced.
Warren's work history included positions with the Oregon Dept. of Forestry in Coos Bay and Pendleton; Schnabel Lumber Company/Evergreen Logging in Haines, Alaska; and Shee Atika, in Sitka, Alaska. He started his own forest management company, W.R. Weathers and Associates, in 1982. He also served in the National Guard from 1969-80.
His school years in Lowell were filled with many outdoor adventures with close friends Gale Sperry, Lucky Lundy and others. Some of their hunting tales are legendary. He was a true renaissance man whose interests and talents ranged from hunting and trapping, to growing vegetables, canning jams and jellies, and baking award-winning pies. He appreciated the support he received from others while growing up and enjoyed paying it back by volunteering in the community as a Hunter Safety Instructor, Assistant Boy Scout Leader, Creswell Masonic Lodge member, and Lowell Grange officer.
Warren became thoroughly involved in his community's governance by serving as a member of the City of Lowell Budget Committee for two years, City Council member for two years, then 20 years as Mayor of Lowell. He was also one of three founding members of the popular Blackberry Jam Festival.
The Blackberry Jam Festival is where he challenged then Springfield Mayor, Maureen Maine, to a pie baking contest. Not a cook at the time, she begrudgingly accepted, asked the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital's kitchen staff to bake her pie and proceeded to win the contest. They soon won each other's hearts and were married four months later in 1999.
Warren and Maureen enjoyed annual trips to Sitka, Alaska to visit their three grandchildren. They also made many trips every year to their property near Paisley, Oregon, where they maintained 120 acres of private timber. From 2000-2010 they spent weekends building their treasured log cabin. Warren was very thankful for the help he received from numerous friends, family members, and wrestling teams. The cabin has been a place of solitude and a source of happiness for many years. It even survived the recent Bootleg Fire, thanks in large part to Warren's stewardship of the surrounding property.
Warren's dedication to friends, family, acquaintances, and community was well known. If Warren was told that a proposed community improvement couldn't be done, he took it as a challenge, set his jaw, and quietly made it happen – generally by inspiring others to see his vision and get involved with him. Some of the projects he was most proud of included the Lowell Bridge Rehabilitation and Interpretive Center, acquisition of the Seneca property that the City developed into an industrial park, acquisition of three abandoned forest service houses for school purposes, development of Rolling Rock Park, and the Blackberry Jam Festival.
Warren will be sorely missed by all who knew him. His survivors include his beloved wife, Maureen; his sons Nathan (Kristen Tritsch) of Lynnwood, WA and Stuart (Shannon Dailey) and his grandchildren, Kayaani, Rawl and Olen of Sitka, AK; sister, Nancy (Marv) Nicholson of Dresden, OH; and, brothers Ward Weathers (Renee de Montaigne) of Providence, RI and Ben Weathers (Danae Brown) of Hillsboro, OR. He also leaves in-laws who loved him dearly: Dennis & Dawn Brown and Jim & Nancy Stark, all from Springfield, plus many nieces and nephews and too many wonderful friends to list. He truly felt blessed every day.
A Celebration of Life event will be held at Lowell High School on Wednesday, Aug. 11, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Donations may be made in Warren's honor to the Lowell Scholarship Fund, 65 S. Pioneer Street, Lowell OR 97452. A fundraising walk to support Alzheimer's research will be held in the future. To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Warren Russell Weathers, please visit our Tribute Store.