Obituary of John Frazer Stowaser

John F Stowaser, (Jack) died on March 28th, 2012. Jack was born on June 26th, 1927 to Carl and Zona Stowaser in St. Helens. He grew up in North Portland, attending Ockley Green Elementary School and Jefferson High School. After high school Jack joined the Navy serving in the Pacific with rating of Boatswain Mate. When he returned from the war Jack attended what is now Portland State University. He then went to work for the telephone company as an installer, which took him to Pendleton and Hermiston. While in Hermiston he met his wife Dolores Connor. They were married 61 years. Jack left the phone company to start a shoe business on Main Street in Hermiston in the mid 1950’s. When he sold the store in the late 1950’s he joined Sears in Portland. From there he transferred to Idaho Falls to help open a new Sears store in 1960. A year later he moved to Spokane to open a larger store. After two years in Spokane John chose to take a job with Lipman Wolfe as a buyer, which took the family back to Portland in 1963, where he stayed for nine years. In June 1972 John had the opportunity to go to Corvallis to manage the Lipmans store. John remained at the helm when Lipman merged with Frederick and Nelson in 1979, when it became the Crescent in the mid 1980’s and finally, Lamonts. John retired from Lamonts in 1989. Jack and Dolores had two children, John born in 1953 who preceded him in death in 2001. John Jr. had one son Jonathon who lives in Benicia, California. Daughter Dianne born in 1955 lives in Portland with her husband Greg Shewbert. They have two grown children; Brandon who is married to Sarah Grace and Brianna married to Eron Rouse. The grandchildren lovingly called their grandfather, PaPa. Jack loved his family and they spent many happy memories at the beach together crabbing and going zoom in PaPa’s boat. Jack is a past member of the Chamber of Commerce, and past board member. He was a member of Greater Corvallis Rotary Club, having served as President 1993-1994 and as Treasure and Board Member. He was also a member of Masonic and Elks Lodge. A Special Thank-you goes to the staff at Golden Age Memory Care and Adventist Hospice, for their love and care for Jack during the last year of his life. A private memorial is being planned for later in the year.