Dad graduated from Benson June 15, 1923. He was the “Iron Man” of the 1922 football team. I have a photo of the team, though it isn’t in very good shape. I was disappointed to not find photos or rosters, etc. of Benson’s teams over the years, or lists of Alumni, on the school’s website.
He intended to attend OSU after high school, but had promised his father to stay in Portland and watch over his mother following his father’s death. He never did go to college, but his Benson training got him a life-long job with Pacific Power as an electrician, the profession his respected eldest brother back in Nebraska had taken up in its infancy. Using the knowledge acquired at Benson, Dad helped install the control panels at Merwin Dam’s power house when it was built at Ariel, Washington. He was a highly respected station wireman for Pacific Power after that, and worked at the company’s shops and the Albina plant (now replaced by the Waterfront parks) and other facilities until his retirement in 1968.
Dad’s son-in-law, Robert “Bob” McGlone also attended Benson in the mid to late 1940’s, and Dad’s great grandson, Doug Whitmore, went there in the late 1980’s. Bob became an auto mechanic and eventually was Dstrict Service Representative in the Northwest for General Motors Corp., Oldsmobile Division, thereafter becoming a private consultant for GM dealers. He was the best auto mechanic I ever knew, probably thanks to his intelligence, natural mechanical intuition, and Benson training. His grandson Doug graduated from OSU in oceanography, but now works for Apple Computer in California, no doubt inspired by his technical instruction from Benson.
