Robert Leslie Montgomery Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Robert (Bob) L. Montgomery passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on October 23, 2017. Bob was a lifelong resident of the Lake Oswego and West Linn area. He was born December 21, 1920 in Oregon City, OR to Iva and Delvia Montgomery. In June of 1926, the family moved to Lake Oswego where he attended grammar school in Oswego and high school at West Linn-Oswego High School, graduating in 1939. (At that time Lake Oswego had no high school). He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and received training as an Aviation Mechanic in Chicago, IL, followed by aircraft gunnery school in Oklahoma. He was assigned to Blimp Squadron 15 based in Glencoe, Georgia escorting ship convoys along the East Coast and then served out his enlistment at Barbers Point in Hawaii. He was honorably discharged in 1945. In 1946, he began working as Lake Warden for Oswego Lake Corporation. After that, he became Assistant Fire Chief and eventual Fire Chief for the City of Lake Oswego. It was in Lake Oswego that he met Barbara Adams (of Chehalis, Washington) and on May 9, 1948, he married Barbara. His daughter, Christine (husband-Jim Rett) was born in 1951 and his son, James (wife-Joy) was born in 1955. In 1957 he built his house next door to his mother on Ladd St. In 1952, he began working at the Portland Air Base-USAF as Assistant Fire Chief and later became the Fire Chief. He retired from there in 1972 due to the base closure after a brief duty assignment at Williams AFB in Phoenix, AZ. Retirement didn’t suit him well, so he occupied his time working at the Shell gas station in Lake Oswego for a while, Lake Oswego True Value Hardware and also Stagecraft Industries in Portland. He also volunteered for over 20 years for the American Red Cross, supporting blood drives held in the West Linn area. He was part of a Craftsman for Christ team that built a church in Sitka, Alaska. He donated over 30 gallons of blood over his life with his wife not far behind with 25 gallons!! He was able to attend an Honor Flight Tour to Washington DC in 2015 with James as his guardian. Living in the area his entire life, Bob had many friends and acquaintances. He was very active in the West Linn Baptist Church which is now New Life West Linn church and was part of their Coffee Cart team which provided coffee, pastries and spiritual messages to students at West Linn High School. Bob is survived by his wife Barbara of 69 years; daughter Chris Rett of Green Valley, AZ; and son James of Portland, OR. A tribute wall has been established at http://www.hillsidechapelfh.com/obituaries/Robert-Montgomery-8/#!/TributeWall. If you have any photos, stories or comments, please share them! In lieu of flowers, and to honor of Bob, please give a much needed blood donation to the American Red Cross, or a financial contribution to their work. Thank you!

Robert Leslie Montgomery

December 21, 1920 - October 23, 2017