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A Mentor to Apprentices and Journeymen

David Hiebert ’64

February 2, 2025, of mesothelioma.

Born in 1942, Dave lived in occupied Germany while his father was flying reconnaissance missions over the Iron Curtain after World War II. Upon returning to the United States in 1954, his parents bought a remodeled former one-room schoolhouse east of Sandy, Oregon.

Dave graduated from Sandy Union High School in 1959, then attended ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó for three years, studying economics. A fixture of 1960s counterculture, he lived in Haight Ashbury during the Summer of Love and attended an Acid Test put on by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.

When he moved back to Oregon, Dave began working at Gunderson Bros., where he learned to weld and became a boilermaker. By 1984, he had joined the steamfitters union; he retired from the union in 1998, though he taught classes for apprentices and journeymen until his death.

In 1971, Dave met his first wife, Joan Chandler, while taking classes at PCC. He lost her to cancer in 2003, after a 32-year relationship. Though heartbroken, Dave had the good fortune to meet and later marry Frankie Lodge—and felt he had won the lottery by finding a second wife who was as wonderful as his first.

A steadfast skier, Dave was able to ski double black diamond runs at Whistler at age 80, even after a lifetime of construction work. He especially enjoyed skiing at Timberline with his grandson, Max Chandler, and exploring the Oregon outback with his brother, Fritz.

Dave is survived by his wife, Frankie.

Appeared in ÈËÆÞÓÕ»ó magazine: Winter 2025