Henry Peter Tervooren Jr.

Pete was born in Portland, Oregon and adopted as a baby by Henry and Elizabeth Tervooren of Portland. He grew up in Northeast Portland at 21st and Going Street and attended Vernon grade school through the eighth grade. He was a Cub Scout, sold magazines door-to-door, delivered the Portland Journal and the Portland Oregonian newspapers, picked berries in the summer, and washed dishes in a local restaurant the summer of 1943. He spent many Saturday afternoons at the local movie theater watching his favorite cowboy “Hopalong Cassidy” and comedians Abbott and Costello.

In February 1944, his family moved to Fern Prairie, Washington (5 miles north of Camas) to run a country store. He graduated from Camas high school in 1948 and then Washington State College (now university) in Pullman, Washington with a degree in civil engineering and a reserve army commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. This included a commitment for two years of active duty after graduation. At WSU, he met his future wife (Patsy Upson) and they were married in September 1952.

After two years of service in the US Army, Engineer Branch in Virginia, Missouri, and France, where he was promoted to the Engineer Unit Commander and 1st Lieutenant, he returned to Oregon and went to work in 1955 for the Portland District of the US Army Corps of Engineers. He specialized in designing water control structures for the dams on the lower Columbia River, tributaries of the Willamette River, and Rogue River projects. His last job in the District was as Chief of the Hydraulic Design Section. In 1981 he transferred to the North Pacific Division of the Corps with oversight responsibilities for the hydraulic design of all water control structures in the Northwest and Alaska. He retired in 1988 after 33 years’ service with the Corps.

In the 1970s he served three years has a scoutmaster in Cedar Hills where they lived. He also obtained his Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University through night school while working full time for the Corps. He then took up mountain climbing with a neighborhood group and climbed most of the mountains in the northwest, including Mount Rainier, where they spent one night at the top. He also was a long-time avid bowler and golfer, and a sometimes skier. After retirement he maintained a twice a week golfing schedule year round, rain, or shine. He and Patsy enjoyed time in Whistler Canada in the summer and Palm Springs, California in late winter in a timeshare condo. Pete and Pat were members of the First United Methodist Church in Beaverton, Oregon for many years. After retirement from the Corps, Pete joined his wife in delivering “Meals on Wheels” from the Stuhr Center in Beaverton.

Pete is survived by his wife Pat, son Bob of Rainier, Oregon and his wife Susie, and son Steve of Trenton, Texas and his wife Kristy. Also four grandchildren: Tyler, Stephanie, Danny, and David; and six great grandchildren: Hannah, Brighton, Clay, Violet, Jovi, and Theo.

Service will be livestreamed on Pegg, Paxson, and Springer Funeral Chapel's Facebook page.