Port of Tillamook Bay

Jerry is a 1957 graduate from Parkrose High School and served six years in the United States Marine Corp Reserves. He was an automotive technician for 32 years and has been a Tillamook County resident since 1976. Three different Oregon governors have appointed him to various boards and commissions. He has served on committees at both state and national levels dealing with economic development and natural resources.

Jerry is president and founder of Tillamook Anglers Association; a nonprofit organization dedicated to the enhancement of fish, and founder of the Whiskey Creek Volunteer Salmon Hatchery. Jerry served two terms as a Tillamook County Commissioner from 1991 to 1998. He has also been a member of Tillamook Kiwanis, past president of Tillamook Chamber of Commerce and has served 10 years on the Tillamook Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He has been a Port of Tillamook Bay commissioner since 1999.

Jerry has been married to his wife Johna for 38 years and has a daughter, Kim, and one grandson, Chad.

Ken graduated from Tillamook High School and then went on to serve two years in Germany for the U.S. Army, returning to Oregon State College for a year and a half. He worked in surveying for four years before entering into the printing business with Kenwood Press in 1961, working later with Coast Printing.

Ken married his wife Barbara in 1959 and in 1973 they began their own business, Bell's Office Machines. Ken's community service includes 12 years as a Tillamook Jaycee, 15 years as a fire department volunteer -- five years as assistant chief. He served eight years on the Tillamook City Planning Commission, several years on Latimer Road Water Association Board of Directors and 24 years on Port of Tillamook Bay Board of Commissioners. He is a member of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Tillamook.

Ken and his wife have a son Rusty, married with one grandson, Kenny Bell; and a daughter Jody.

John Ficher graduated in 1968 from Orland High School in California. While attending college full time, he milked cows. Since then, he has owned or leased four different dairies. During that time he expanded his dairy herd numbers with each move. John relocated to Tillamook in 1997 after learning what an excellent milk market Tillamook had to offer and its impressive products and brands.

At present, John milks a herd of 700 dairy cows. He has served on numerous boards, the including Dairy Herd Improvement Association, Western United Dairymen and the California Milk Advisory Board.

John has been married for 40 years to his high school sweetheart, Gail. They have two children, John and Hassie Bell, and are the grandparents of Grace and John.

After traveling widely until the age of 8, Jim settled in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from high school and enlisted in the Navy with plans to see the rest of the world. After serving his enlistment, including two years with the fleet Marines, he returned to Los Angeles.

Jim went to work for The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company, where he spent the next 34 years. He had numerous assignments during his career, primarily in outside plant construction and engineering and various management positions. During this period, he attended college at night, earning an Associate Arts degree in business administration.

Upon retirement in 1991, he moved to the Tillamook area, where he pursued the second love of his life, fishing, with a vengeance.

He has been married to his wife, Verna, for 34 years. Their family consists of four sons and three daughters. They have six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Jim is a board member and vice president of Tillamook Anglers. He has been running the Elks Bingo operation for nine years and is also a member of the Eagles Club.

Art is a native of Portland, Oregon. He is a graduate of Stanford University, with a degree in construction engineering. For 35 years, he owned Riedel International, Inc., a major international marine construction and dredging company, and Riedel Environmental Technologies, Inc., an international environmental remediation company.

Art has served in many capacities in the City of Portland and in Oregon, having received numerous honors and awards. He is owner of Celtic Development, Inc. real estate and private investments. He presently serves on the Multnomah County Sheriff's Advisory Commission, Port of Tillamook Bay Board of Commissioners (since Sept. 17, 1997) and is the honorary consul emeritus to the Netherlands.

He and his wife, Janet, have three adult children and five grandchildren.