Richard Oswald Eymann (February 3, 1919 – September 26, 2005) was an American businessman and politician in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. A native of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, he served as an airman during World War II and then graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

. Eymann moved to Oregon where he would serve as a Democrat in the Oregon House of Representatives, including one session as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Early life

Richard O. Eymann was born in 1919 in

Medicine Hat, Alberta Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are withi ...

, Canada.Steves, David. "Former legislator, EPUD board member Dick Eyemann, 86, dies; Politics; Obituary", ''The Register-Guard'', September 28, 2005, p. D1. After service in the South Pacific Theater during World War II as an airman, he attended

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. He graduated with a master's degree in business administration in 1947 and moved to Springfield, Oregon.Wong, Peter. "Former Oregon House speaker Eymann dies at 86", ''Statesman Journal'', September 28, 2005, p. 1C. In Oregon, he worked for

Weyerhaeuser Weyerhaeuser () is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company also manufactures wood products. It operates as a real e ...

as an executive at their mill in Springfield. Eymann married Juanita, and they had eight children; Richard, Ramona, Patricia, Carol, Katy, Deborah, Rebecca and Penelope. Eymann would work for the Oregon State Tax Commission as executive secretary before entering politics. He also helped to found McKenzie-Willamette Memorial Hospital in Springfield and was one of the original administrators at

Lane Community College Lane Community College is a public community college in Eugene, Oregon, with additional facilities in downtown Eugene, Florence, Cottage Grove, and the Lane Aviation Academy at Eugene Airport. Lane serves more than 26,000 credit and non-credit ...

, later moving to the neighboring Mohawk Valley.

Political career

In 1960, Eymann was elected as a Democrat to serve District 14 and Lane County in the Oregon House of Representatives. He won re-election and served in the 1963 legislature, representing District 13 after reapportionment. He was a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Eymann returned to the Oregon Legislative Assembly during the 1969 session. He was re-elected in 1970 to the same seat, and was elected again in 1972, but to District 44. During the 1973 session he was elected as Speaker of the House, serving through the 1974 special session of the legislature. He defeated

Les AuCoin Walter Leslie AuCoin ( ; born October 21, 1942) is an American politician. In 1974 he became the first person from the Democratic Party to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from , since it was formed in 1892. The seat has been hel ...

in the election for the Speakership. During the session he served as Speaker the legislature passed many bills including the Oregon Shield Law,

land use planning Land use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. More specifically, the goals ...

, and a bill to allow public employees to unionize. In 1974, Eymann lost his run at re-election to Republican Bill Rogers. In 1986, he attempted to get the Democratic nomination to run against incumbent

Bob Packwood Robert William Packwood (born September 11, 1932) is an American retired lawyer and politician from Oregon and a member of the Republican Party. He resigned from the United States Senate, under threat of expulsion, in 1995 after allegations of ...

for U.S. Senate after the primary winner dropped out, but lost out to

Rick Bauman Richard H. "Rick" Bauman (born April 1950) is a former Democratic politician from the US state of Oregon who served in the Oregon House of Representatives and on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners in the 1980s. He was also the Democrati ...

. In 1992, Eymann tried to return to public office, running for

Oregon State Treasurer The Oregon State Treasurer is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, elected by statewide vote to serve a four-year term. As chief financial officer for the state, the office holder head ...

.Hill, Gail Kinsey. "Kulongoski, Rodeman to face off in November", ''The Oregonian'', May 21, 1992, p. G4. Eymann won 27% of the vote in the May Democratic primary, losing to Jim Hill who also won in the November general election.

Later years and family

In 1978, he assisted in the establishment of the Emerald People's Utility District, the publicly-owned power company serving the areas surrounding Springfield and Eugene. Eymann served on the board of the organization from founding until 2004. His son Richard C. is an attorney in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

.Kirchmeier, Mark. "Demos heap praise on Foley during his visit to home state", ''The Oregonian'', May 29, 1989, p. D5. Daughter Ramona has served as the chief clerk for the Oregon House since 1985, while daughter Katy married

Bill Bradbury Bill Bradbury (born May 29, 1949) is an American politician who served as a member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and as the 23rd Oregon secretary of state from 1999 to 2009. Bradbury was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2010 Oregon gube ...

. Richard O. Eymann died on September 26, 2005, near Springfield at the age of 86.

References

External links

Oregon Legislature Resolution in 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eymann, Richard O. Dartmouth College alumni 1919 births 2005 deaths People from Springfield, Oregon People from Medicine Hat Speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American politicians Canadian emigrants to the United States

Early life

Political career

Later years and family

See also

References

External links