Oliver Wendell Petty

Oliver Wendell Petty, 99, passed away on Sunday, April 6, in his sleep.
Mr. Petty was born in Creswell to Riley and Mamie Petty. At age 4, he started school where his mother taught in a one room school house near the family homestead at Bear Creek in Lane County. As a young man, he began a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ and remained a faithful Christian all of his life.
He graduated from Creswell High School in 1931 and for a year attended Eugene Bible College with the ambition of becoming a minister. He later enrolled in Oregon State College where he obtained a degree in forestry management in 1940. While there he was active in the National Foresters Honor Society and Christian groups such as Christian Endeavor where he served as president.
During World War II, Mr. Petty declared his conviction as a conscientious objector and was stationed in San Dimas, Calif., at a forestry research center and in Montana where he was one of the first smoke jumpers for the US Forest Service's new fire fighting program. Besides working on projects for the Forest Service, he also was the camp cook and jumped 39 times as a smoke jumper.
After the war, Mr. Petty determined that he would become a beekeeper. He apprenticed in Ojai, Calif., for several years. It was here that he met and married Loretta Gloria Vaughan "Connie Petty" in Santa Barbara, Calif., on April 2, 1950. They traveled to Albany to start their life together as well as begin the bee business, Fairview Apiaries, later known as Gibson Hill Honey Farm. The couple raised five children in their home on Gibson Hill. In addition to beekeeping, Petty also farmed and sold Christmas trees during the winter months to provide his family with extra income. He also was a founding member of the North-Forty Club which was a service organization that organized special events for the local schools such as field days for athletic competitions.
As a beekeeper in the Willamette Valley, Mr. Petty was instrumental in convincing farmers to rent bee hives to improve crop yields. Prior to that time, most beekeepers made their living by selling honey. At one point, Mr. Petty managed 1,200 hives. Mr. Petty was a member of the Oregon State Beekeepers Association where he served as secretary for over 16 years and a member of the American Beekeepers Association for over 60 years. He traveled extensively to attend National and International Beekeeper Conventions including across the USA, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Hungary, Greece, England, France, China, New Zealand and Australia. Oliver helped many Willamette Valley beekeepers get their start in beekeeping by spending time working bees together and teaching the art of beekeeping to them. He was truly a mentor to beekeepers in the valley and regularly attended the Willamette Valley Beekeeper's Association Meetings in Salem until a couple of years ago.
He also enjoyed interacting with very young beekeepers through his leadership in a 4-H club called the Honey Hustlers. His own children as well as many other children in North Albany learned about bees and beekeeping from Mr. Petty during his 40-plus years as a 4-H club leader.
Mr. Petty enjoyed hunting, especially elk hunting, in eastern Oregon. His children recall the time he spent the day hunting for deer only to come home and bag his deer from the end of his driveway.
Mr. Petty was a man with a hard working spirit, who also understood and appreciated the role of the honeybee in our world; he was also a man of faith and conviction and a faithful member of the Hill Street Church of Christ for over 60 years.
Petty was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Connie; son Douglas Riley, who passed away in 1994 of cancer; and sister Ethel Petty Vedder.
Petty is survived by his two brothers, Joseph Petty of Walla Walla, Wash., and Earl Petty of Eugene; four of his children, Sylvia Elaine Hess and husband Michael, Walter Vaughan and wife Kathleen, Dean Wendell and wife Darla, and Martha Sheridan Mackowiak and husband Michael; and seven grandchildren, Sarah Sainsbury, Rachel McFarland, Elizabeth Petty, Angela Petty, Emeshea Petty, Livia Petty, Sasha Mackowiak and Nik Mackowiak. Mr. Petty was the proud great grandfather of four great-grandsons, Quinn and Liam Sainsbury, and Isaiah and Michael McFarland.
A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 19, at the Hill Street Church of Christ, 1805 Hill St. S.E., Albany.