William "Bill" Holmstrom

Former Oregon State Senator, William H. "Bill" Holmstrom died Monday, February 6, 2012 at 4:07 pm at Salem Hospital. William served 17 years in Oregon state legislature. He was first elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1957. His proudest accomplishment as a legislator began in 1961 when, as Chairman of the Oregon Highway Commission, he co-sponsored House Bill 1732, authorizing the construction of the Astoria-Megler Bridge. Completed in August 1966, the bridge replaced the ferry crossing over the hazardous Young's Bay bar and remains the longest contiguous truss bridge in North America today. An appointee of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, he served as Chairman of the Inter-American Tuna Commission and traveled to several Pacific Rim countries in that role. He was elected to the State Senate in 1969 and served as Senate Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee for both his two terms.
He was born in Astoria, Oregon on March 24, 1927 to Peter and Helma Holmstrom. Peter and Helma's last name when they immigrated to Oregon was Johnson but there were so many other Johnson's in Astoria that they had trouble getting their mail so they close a new name. Pete said Holmstrom was close to enough in their native Swedish to their new "home by a stream". William was always a hard worker. He had the usual paper routes and bus boy jobs while still in school but later in life he and a friend scraped together money to buy a small airplane and formed a crop dusting business. He slso got odd jobs in construction which later enabled him to perform his own plumbing and electrical repairs and even remodel homes later in life.
William and his family resided in Gearhart, Oregon before and during his legislative years and he worked as Sales Manager of Lovell Auto when not in session. He moved to Salem in the early 1980's and served a long and happy life together filled with friends and family and fun. They took many memorable trips together that he loved remembering - Vancouver and Victoria, BC, the "Mail Boat" in Southern Oregon and many trips to son, Dave, in California. William live for the past several years at Gibson Creek Retirement Home, fortunately only about a mile from Dorothy, who was able to spend nearly every day with him. He acquired many friends and was much loved by them and the staff. His friend, Ken, said that he will always remember William's special way of greeting everyone that lit up the dining room. Many spoke of how much they will miss him.
He loved landscaping and vegetable gardening - something he enjoyed doing with both his mother and his wife over the years. A lover of animals, he helped his kids with their menagerie of cats, dogs and horses. William loved music and was a pretty boogie woogie piano man, great at belting out his favorites - especially any songs by Al Jolson.
William is survived by his wife, Dorothy, his children and their spouses, Barbara, Steve, Bill, Dawn, Dave and Maureen, grandchildren, Christopher, Brandon, Mileah and Cameron and great-grandson, Kayden, His family will all miss his intelligence and wisdom, singing voice and showmanship and his amazing memory for fascinating events in Oregon and world history.