Winter 2026 59 SPRINGFIELD CREAMERY REMEMBRANCE Susan Rohrbough Zito, ’69, Victorville, CA, Sigma Kappa 1970s John S. Flack, ’70, Bellevue, WA • Arnold A. Epstein, ’71, Beverly Hills, CA • Kenneth R. Luse, ’71, Eugene, OR • April D. Petersen, ’71, Hillsboro, OR • Donald Ray Bachmann, ’72, San Diego, CA • Namrod David Benjamin, ’72 • Robert Ross Gray, ’69, Portland, OR • Dan W. Holbrook, ’69, Ukiah, CA • Janet Louise Melcher, ’69 ’72 ’73, Aurora, OR • Richard T. Plov, ’69, Portland, OR • Larry M. Rymon, ’69, Long Beach, NY • Jon Allen Speir, ’69, Auburn, WA • Donna Virginia Varela, ’69, Meridian, MS • Susan G. Wilson, ’69, Redwood City, CA, Alpha Chi Omega • Joseph M. Wyffels, ’69, Mount Vernon, WA • City, CA • Ralph D. Erickson, ’64, Vancouver, WA, Kappa Sigma • Perry Leon Giles, ’64, Portland, OR, Beta Theta Pi • Patricia Jones, ’64, Indianapolis, IN, Alpha Phi • Shirley Arne Newton, ’64, Scottsdale, AZ • David B. Oas, ’64, Girard, PA • Robert Dean Pfister, ’64, Bonner, MT • Lucille Marie Reed, ’64, Corvallis, OR • Harold Eugene Todd Jr., ’64, Lafayette, CA • Gary Von Smith, ’65, Fountain Hills, AZ • Alan S. Defler, ’66, Boise, ID • Byron W. Hawkins, ’66, Salem, OR • Joan Guilford Kaiser, ’66, Monmouth, OR • Carolyn T. Baker, ’67 ’73, Salem, OR • Gwendolyn Walter Gowing, ’67, Salem, OR • Mary Lou Hathaway Long, ’67, Newberg, OR, Delta Zeta • William Ross McKnight, ’67, Stockton, CA • Paul Robert Munsell Jr., ’67, The Dalles, OR • Richard L. Powell, ’67, Corvallis, OR • Douglas Harold Rude, ’67, Bend, OR • Susan Sissel, ’67, Albany, OR • Roger Barton Stickney, ’67 ’77, Anchorage, AK • Lester Patrick Stinson, ’67, Portland, OR, Theta Chi • Arthur G. Baughman, ’68, Philomath, OR • Charles Jared Dominick, ’68, Rising Sun, MD • Karen Anne Fredrickson, ’68, Kneeland, CA • Clendon K. Gee, ’68, Twin Falls, ID • Mary Ann Kaestner, ’68, Santa Barbara, CA • Douglas D. Madsen, ’68, Bonanza, OR, Theta Chi • Charlene Ann Walters, ’68 ’77, Albany, OR • Margaretann Schwabe Warren, ’68, Kirkland, WA, Delta Gamma • Roger 1960s Albert M. Carder, ’60, Gearhart, OR • Jacqueline Louise Ford, ’60, Boise, ID • Emil E. Fredrickson, ’60, Camas, WA, Sigma Pi • Michael L. Harms, ’60, Canby, OR • Franklin Satoshi Itami, ’60, Manhattan Beach, CA • Susan L. Kesey, ’60, Eugene, OR, Delta Delta Delta • James Joseph Peoples, ’60, Wharton, NJ, Sigma Alpha Epsilon • Carolyn VanDerZanden Perrin, ’60, Portland, OR, Kappa Alpha Theta • Arnold L. Schroeder, ’60 ’62, Dardanelle, AR, Delta Tau Delta • Stephen C. Schuh, ’60, Mount Vernon, WA • Larry E. Bentti, ’61, Palmer, AK • Kenneth John Bird, ’61, Palo Alto, CA • Janice E. Brown, ’61, Keizer, OR, Delta Gamma • Kathleen Booth Clahan, ’61, Kentfield, CA, Delta Gamma • Thomas J. Ebner, ’61, Columbus, MS • David L. Haddock, ’61, Pendleton, OR • James L. Pullen, ’61, Portland, OR • David Eugene Sullivan, ’61, Sisters, OR • Gilbert Arthur Baker, ’62, Bellingham, WA, Phi Sigma Kappa • Robert Allan Graham, ’62 ’63, Peoria, AZ • James Albert Haefer, ’62, Billings, MT • Karel Pollard, ’62 ’66, West Linn, OR • Jack David Rohrbough, ’62 ’63, Albany, OR, Sigma Chi • James Dustin Johnson, ’63, Bend, OR, Tau Kappa Epsilon • Dorothy Bauer Jones, ’63, Portland, OR • Mary Ann Heater Rhodaback, ’63, Albany, OR, Sigma Kappa • Roger K. Sanford, ’63, Nevada SUSAN JAMESON KESEY, ’60 Sue Kesey, co-founder of Springfield Creamery, died on Aug. 18 at the age of 86. For more than six decades, she helped guide the family business she launched with her husband, Chuck Kesey, ’61, serving as general manager, CFO and eventually CEO. Home of Nancy’s Yogurt, the creamery gained national attention as the first U.S. producer of yogurt with live probiotics, helping spark the natural foods movement. It also holds a place in music history. In the early 1970s, Chuck’s brother — novelist Ken Kesey — connected the couple with the Grateful Dead, who played a benefit concert for the company. That legendary performance, captured in the documentary Sunshine Daydream, became known as one of the band’s most culturally essential shows.As Nancy’s Yogurt grew in popularity, the Keseys opened the Health Food and Pool Store in Springfield, a countercultural hub until its 1987 closure. Reflecting on her life’s work in 2023, Sue told the Rooted in Organic podcast, “Knowing that you’re making something that’s so good for people — so good for your belly — is a worthy mission to have.” Sue is survived by her husband, Chuck; her daughter Sheryl Kesey Thompson; her son Kit Kesey; and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as her sister, Mary Lou Jameson Rueck, ’64, and nephew and OSU Head Coach Scott Rueck, ’92, MAT ’93.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTcxMjMwNg==