Raymond Coon

Raymond F. "Ray" Coon, a longtime Idaho logging contractor, passed away Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, at Tri-State Memorial Hospital in Clarkston at the age of 90. He was born to Ira Pearl Coon and Mamie Vianna (Quinn) Coon on Nov. 27, 1924, in Lewiston, the youngest of six children.

His family first farmed at Central Ridge in Idaho. His father sold the farm and moved to Clarkston in order to pursue a career in car sales with his uncle, Pres Regan. Ray was born at Lewiston and lived in Clarkston until about the age of 6, when the family purchased another farm in the Melrose area near Peck. His father passed away when Ray was 11.

He received his elementary education at the Garner School, then graduated from Peck High School in 1942. He enjoyed playing basketball and making mischief, such as the time the boys rigged the bell to ring in the adjoining classroom to irritate the adjoining classroom teacher. He attended his last "Peck Breakfast" Oct. 3 with his two remaining classmates, Lee Owens and Wally Rugg.

After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines. He was part of the 9th Marine, 3rd Division that was sent to Iwo Jima and Guam during World War II. He received a Purple Heart for his service. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with his "Foxhole Buddy," George Schaer of Connecticut. They were able to have one last visit in September.

After his military service, he married Isobel Garner, the neighbor girl and sister of his best friend, Allan Garner. That was obviously the best decision he ever made. Although she was generally a silent partner, she made everything work in the background, from keeping the books to cooking for the crews and raising the kids. Her ability to stretch a dollar helped ensure success. She was a great listener and always welcomed guests to the table. She was famous for her baked goods that she shared with the crews. They were married in Lewiston on Oct. 9, 1949. They raised four children, Janice (Ron) Hartig, Jo Coon, Dawn (Mike) Quigley and Dave (Carla) Coon. They have seven grandchildren, Jeremy Hartig, Vianna (Bejay) Marshall, Gib (Melissa), Garner, Denver and Derrick Quigley, and Matt Coon. He has four great-grandchildren and three stepgrandchildren, and one very special dog named Cher who was his constant companion.

He returned to the family farm temporarily until he was able to purchase a military surplus TD-14 Caterpillar and began his construction career building ponds in the region. In 1952, he began logging with Clint Graham in the Big Canyon area, hauling logs to Smith and Nelson's Pataha Lumber Co. Later, Ray and Isobel bought out Clint's share and continued logging as R.F. Coon Logging. They logged for Twin Feathers Mill (Potlatch) near Kamiah before moving to Pierce in 1965 when the Jaype Mill opened. His good friend Dean Huffman was a part of the business early on, and was joined by nephew Kenny Coon when they formed R.F. Coon Logging Inc. They typically employed upwards of 60 employees.

Ray was a logging contractor for more than 60 years. Ray took great pride in his crews and their accomplishments, and was pleased when his crew was featured in Loggers World magazine two times. He was a strong voice for land stewardship and was an original member of the Forest Practices Act, receiving the Forest Products Commission's Crown Award. He was one of the founding members of the Associated Logging Contractors, formed to help independent loggers have a united voice when dealing with contracts and legislative issues. He served as president of ALC and was a founding board member of the Associated Loggers Exchange, providing workman's compensation at a reasonable cost, a position he still held. He was looking forward to the 50th anniversary celebration of the ALC, which would have taken place in April 2016.

Throughout his life, Ray had a love of Caterpillar tractors. He collected nearly every model of antique Caterpillar farm crawler tractor made. He developed a friendship with Ted Billups, who assisted with restoration work. Ray was an early member of the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club and Lewis-Clark Antique Power Club and enjoyed watching equipment run at threshing bees, parades and fairs. He was especially proud of Isobel's Rumely Oil Pull that he had Ted restore from the ground up. It has been driven in many parades in the area, along with some of Ray's restored antique Cats. Ray's oldest brother, Bill, restored a Model T Ford for him in the '70s and Ray nearly completed restoring a Model A since moving to Lewiston. He always tried to make old things run again and would often repair toys for the great-grandchildren. He saw the value in old parts and it was hard to see those parts sold for scrap, always hoping the right person would come along that needed just that part.

He loved the development of new equipment and revisions to the old; he converted his 550 John Deere tractor into a high drive. His close friend Bill Maki developed his original Maki carriage used for line skidding in Ray's shop.

Ray was a major supporter of the J. Howard Bradbury Logging Museum, which his longtime friend Bob Allen created. Ray spent time and money disassembling the Whiskey Butte lookout to add to the museum, but was stymied by the inability to provide liability insurance to have it on display. He was recognized by the museum with a special photo pin in 2015, which he considered a great honor.

Ray was a member of the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association advisory board for many years. He served on the Pierce City Council for one term. He was a supporter of Pierce and Timberline Scholarships and Athletics, the Pierce Community Center, The Sixth Grade Forestry Tour, 4-H, and Bald Mountain Ski Hill, where he provided the snowplowing for many years and equipment to improve the ski runs. He was a member of the Elks and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He was preceded in death in 2010 by his wife of 60 years, Isobel; his parents, Ira and Mamie; his brothers, William A. "Bill" Coon, Clifford Coon and Marion "Bud" Coon; and sisters Ella Hunter and Eva Skeels.

The family wishes to acknowledge and express appreciation to all the people who were part of Ray and Isobel's lives. The loyalty and dedication of their logging crews and the lifelong friendships of people in the "6C" area made for a life well-lived.

A memorial service in honor of Ray and Isobel will be held at 11 a.m. Oct. 30 at Valley Christian Center, 3215 Echo Hills Drive, Lewiston.

The family suggests memorials in honor of Ray to the J. Howard Bradbury Museum at P.O. Box 307, Pierce, ID 83546; or the ALC Office Renovation Fund, P.O. Box 671, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816.