Robert "Bob" Dean Bourn's Obituary
Robert Dean Bourn of Hillsboro passed away November 9, 2015, at age 83. He was born on July 18, 1932, in Cedar Rapids, Boone County, Nebraska. His family moved to West Linn, Oregon, in 1936, where he lived for most of his life, except for his family's brief move back to Nebraska after World War II. He graduated from Oregon City High School in 1950. A year later, he enlisted in the Air Force. While based at Yokota Air Force Base in Japan, he served as a flight engineer on B-29s, flying reconnaissance missions near the Soviet Union during the Korean War. He attended Oregon State University on the GI Bill and graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1960. He married Marilyn Joyce Neill on Christmas Eve 1961. In 1963, the couple purchased a home in West Linn, where they lived until 1988. He worked as a civil engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s and later as a structural engineer in substation design for the Bonneville Power Administration until his retirement in 1988. Upon retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Bourn moved to their Waldport home, which the family built entirely themselves between 1978 and 1980. Mr. and Mrs. Bourn then traveled extensively throughout the US and Canada in their motorhome. Mr. Bourn was proud to have visited all 50 U.S. states. In 2012, a year after his wife's death, Mr. Bourn moved to a retirement community in Hillsboro, where he enjoyed time with his grandchildren and attended church with his son's family.
While living in West Linn, he was elected to the West Linn City Council in 1971 and later served as council president until 1978. He served as a deacon for the Willamette Church of Christ and helped build the church addition. He also chaired the West Linn Fair Board in 1969 and 1979 and was scout master of Boy Scout Troop 223 in the 1980s. After retiring, he served as an elder with the South Lincoln Christian Church. He was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and enjoyed going target shooting.
Mr. Bourn was preceded in death by his wife, Marilyn, his parents, Clyde and Edna Bourn, both of Oregon City, and his brother, Francis Wayne Bourn of Waldport. He is survived by his daughter, Kathryn Bourn of Portland, his son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Lara Bourn of Aloha, and grandsons Nicholas and Benjamin Bourn of Aloha.
Photo: World War II B-17 "Memphis Belle", taken at the Hillsboro Airport in 2013.
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