William E. 'Bill' Selby

William E. “Bill” Selby, 74, died Oct. 29, 2009, in Gresham. At his request, there will be no services.

Mr. Selby was born Aug. 4, 1935, in Baltimore, Md., to William B. Selby and Edna R. (Earle) Selby, and grew up in West Friendship, Md.

He attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah, where he met and married Anona Bevan. In 1958 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in range management.

His 40-year government career started with a summer position in the USDA Agricultural Research Station in Beltsville, Md., before he began full-time work with the U.S. Forest Service at the Conconully Ranger District on the Okanogan National Forest in Washington. There he was a range analysis technician and a smokejumper at the North Cascades Smokejumper Base. He assisted in compiling data to convert the North Cascades Primitive Area to a Wilderness area.

In 1962, he transferred to John Day where he was the assistant district ranger for the Long Creek Ranger District, then assistant staff range and wildlife manager for Malheur National Forest. He served on the Grant County Planning Commission, and was the county liaison officer for the Land and Water Conservation Program. He belonged to the Grant County Sportsman’s Association and the Toastmaster’s Club, and taught hunter safety classes.

In 1970 he transferred to the Fremont National Forest in Lakeview. There he was a district resource assistant, acting district ranger in Paisley and a fire management officer.

In Lakeview he was also a member of the Warner Canyon Ski Patrol, where he taught ski safety to beginners, facilitated meetings and was secretary/treasurer. He belonged to the Lakeview Kiwanis Club and was involved with the nonprofit youth camp, Camp Cottonwood. He transferred to the Region 6 office in Portland in 1992 where he was an employee development specialist before retiring in July 1998.

Over the years, he worked more than 80 large fires, many while serving in positions from division/group supervisor to incident commander. After retirement, he continued contracting with the forest service as a member of the Pacific Northwest Interagency Incident Management Team, responding to fires from Alaska to Texas to North Dakota until his health began to fail last year.

In 1985 he traveled to China and Inner Mongolia, and made several more trips to China. His hobbies included reading, hunting, snow skiing and playing guitar.

Survivors include his wife, Anona; children, Barbara Brutsch of Bend, Patricia Gray of Lebanon, William R. Selby of Prineville and Cathleen Selby of Gresham; and six grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and sisters, Priscilla Clagett and Avis Pfefferkorn, all of Maryland.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Providence Cancer Center fun, c/o Providence Portland Medical Foundation, 4805 NE Glisan Street, Suite 1G21, Portland, OR 97213.