William “Bill” Pengra

Bill was born in St. Helens, OR to Arthur and Ina Pengra in 1930. He grew up on a farm along with 2 brothers (Lu and Jack) and 3 sisters (Hazel, Betty Jean, and Cleo). He attended school through eighth grade. He met and later married Beverly Brown in 1951. Bill’s daughters, Marlene and Rhonda, were born in 1954 and 1958 respectively. Bill and Beverly were married almost 38 years when Beverly passed away in 1990. A couple of years later Bill became reacquainted with Ruby, a former school friend, and they began a new journey together until she died in 2010.

Bill worked as a logger the first few years in the 1950s and then was drafted into the Army, where he was trained as a mechanic. He was honorably discharged in 1957. When he returned home, Bill began a career as a mechanic at Boise Cascade paper mill in St Helens, where he worked until retirement in 1992.

Bill was an avid Trailblazers fan, loved country music, square danced for several years, helped friends and family with car maintenance, and remodeled his home. In his 32 years of retirement, Bill enjoyed splitting his time between his home and coast property, traveling, and finding a deal at garage sales. He was very adept at collecting such items as chain saws, hats, tools and assorted antique equipment. If you needed a tool or obscure part, chances were that Bill had at least one. He was community minded and had many friends with whom he kept in touch. In fact, he ate most meals with a group of friends at the Kozy Korner or Yangton Store restaurants. Bill knew how to enjoy life.

Bill is survived by his daughter Marlene (Ron) Richards; son-in-law Dean Watanabe; grandchildren Tieryn (Kevin) Olson, Jayson (Stephanie) Derowitsch, and Madison Pengra-Watanabe; and great-grandchildren Cyrus Derowitsch and Ezra Olson.

He is pre-deceased by his wife Beverly Pengra; his companion Ruby Burgess; his daughter Rhonda Pengra-Watanabe; his granddaughter Caroline Arditi; and all his siblings and many friends.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday August 29, 2024 at 1:00pm at Columbia Funeral Home in St Helens, OR. In lieu of flowers, please consider sharing a story or card with Bill’s family.