Robert E. Iggulden

Robert E. Iggulden passed away December 3, 2013. ‘Bob’ was born in Scotts Bluff, Nebraska on February 24, 1929 to Roscoe and Lillian Iggulden. He moved to Portland, Oregon with his family in 1942, where his parents found work in the shipyard. He grew up in the Guild’s Lake area of NW Portland, and attended Lincoln High School. Following graduation from high School, he worked many jobs around Portland before joining the Army and serving in Korea during the Korean Conflict.

After being honorably discharged from the Army, he returned to Portland and married Maureen O’Hara in April, 1954, and together they had two children: Robert and Susan. Bob found work in Portland, working for Exide Corporation, operating in Portland as General Battery Corporation. He maintained a 40 year career at Exide, starting on the factory floor and rising to a management position with the company. He traveled extensively, eventually relocating with Maureen to Southern California, and from there he traveled to Exide’s various plants working as a troubleshooter. He retired at 65, and then returned to Oregon, settling in the Gresham area.

Bob had a lifelong passion for both hunting and fishing, and treasured these outings each year. In later years, he and Maureen took up working with stained glass, and together they created many beautiful projects, which they enjoyed sharing with family and friends. He became known as the caretaker of the family, and maintained cherished relationships with both family and friends. Bob is survived by his wife Maureen, son Robert, daughter Susan, sister Dorothy, and grandchildren Bradley and Sydney.

Favorite Memories

Maureen: Bob loved to travel, and we took many interesting trips. One great trip was when we drove from Washington to Southern California, visiting all of the National parks. We entered Yellowstone Park in Wyoming just as a large herd of buffalo decided to cross the road. Bob had a great sense of humor, and said, “honey, get out there so I can get a picture of you with the buffalo.” Since I knew nothing about wild animals, or buffalo in particular, I got out of the car and was thinking maybe I could pet one of them for a really good picture. Then Bob said, “Maureen, I got the picture – get back in the car now!” He was laughing when I got back, and asked me if I hadn’t seen that big bull walking toward me, intending to protect his family. He often told that story with a laugh!

Rob: When I was very young, we used to hunt in Southern Oregon. I remember one trip in particular where we went 3 or 4 days without bagging anything. Then dad’s cousin Ray spoke up and announced, “if we are going to get deer we have to think like a deer”. And sure enough that afternoon they came back with three bucks! Everyone in camp was amazed that Dad and the crew were able to go out and really “think like deer”. Years later dad would laugh about that and told us that the only reason they actually caught anything that day was that they went out and hunted at lunch time when the other hunters were busy eating their sandwiches.

We also did many great trips with friends and family. Some of our trips were to the Nehalem River on the Oregon coast with the Snyders. And there was the building of the cabin up in Canada with the Winn’s and the extended family. Dad never turned away a chance to hunt, fish, or play cards. I remember many a late night as a young boy sitting around with Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Duane, Grandfather, Dad and a character named Earl Papenfuss learning to play pinochle. And all the laughs that have been had over the years as dad reminisced about that three legged dog of Earl’s, Pooper Snooper.

Later in life as an adult I enjoyed several special hunting and fishing trips with Dad and his buddy Stan. These trips eventually included Dad’s only grandson, Brad. Brad got to know his grandpa and enjoy sitting by the fire listening to Dad and Stan go on and on with their humorous stories about the battery factory, playing “hand and foot”, and drinking bad beer. Our most cherished trip was the one that Brad and I and Dad went on to Alaska, where we toured all the way to Mt. McKinley then fished for several days out of Seward catching Salmon, Halibut, and Cod. I think these days were the happiest my dad had – fishing with his son and grandson. I know they were the days that Brad and I will never forget.

Sue: We had a lot of great father-daughter time together as I was growing up. My passion was horses, and he used to take me to weekend horse shows. He never really figured out what it was we did out there in the ring, but he did enjoy studying the people. Everyone had a descriptive nickname, and when we arrived at the show grounds, he would take off on foot to see who was there. He’d always make a full report back, that would often sound something like, “need to be sharp today – Trouble in Yuba City just drove in …” We laughed a lot, and I fully appreciate the time he took out of his weekend R&R to indulge my passion.

Dad always had a list of projects. When I moved to Gresham and bought my first home, he spent hours helping me fix it up, and the list was as varied as you would expect when renovating a ‘70s vintage home. Removal of fuzzy velour wallpaper and endless painting – there was lots to do and he enjoyed being in the middle of it. We spent one entire Labor Day weekend building a big garden shed. It took all 3 days, and even though we had a whole bag of screws left over, it was still standing 15 years later. We enjoyed spending the time and accomplishing the project together.

He remained one of my biggest cheerleaders, and I will miss him every day.