Diane Thramer
Recent Russellville resident, Diane Thramer, has solid credentials as an Oregonian. Her mother's family descended from early pioneers who came over the Oregon Trail in covered wagons and settled in the Wolf Creek area of southern Oregon. Her father, George Rader, grew up in Oklahoma leaving school early to work in the oil fields as a whistle punk. After coming to Oregon, George worked as a logger and was a true independent Oregonian who refused to participate in any of Franklin D. Roosevelt's depression era measures because he prided himself on not taking charity.
Diane is a talented artist who was blessed with that mysterious gift of genetic pass-down from both her father and her mother. George was an accomplished painter who also drew cartoon strips with his creative gags that were published by farm magazines. Diane's grand daughter received the family genetic gift and is herself a talented artist. Diane developed her talent with the encouragement of her parents as well as studying with school teachers. She works primarily with water colors and many of her painting involve family members and friends. The Rose Bud Bakery in Eugene, Oregon was a community favorite and as a young high school student, Diane attained modest celebrity as a cake decorator. Her best creations ended up as support platforms for candles. John Dix Thramer, who Diane would later marry, was a baker a the Rose Bud. After leaving the bakery, John spent the rest of his career with Eugene's Water and Electric Board (EWEB) until his retirement.
Those early family years were the among the happiest in the lives of Diane and John. They personified the reputation of Eugene as a place that welcomed diversity and healthy living and that more often than not involved hiking and camping plus all things connected to the two rivers that converged north of the city: the Willamette and the McKenzie. On one memorable occasion the entire family, sons Allen and Darin along with their sister Patrice and led by John and Diane, hiked the iconic Pacific Crest Trail (built by FDR's socialistic Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s) from the McKenzie Pass of the Cascade Mountains to the mountain's Willamette Pass. That is a lot of up mountains, down mountains that kept them on that high mountain trail for two weeks, creating a lifetime of memories.
Diane Thramer is one of those people who look a dozen or more years younger than their biological tattletale. Her easygoing style of being open to social situations that make her laugh, lightens the mood of any room she enters. Include Diane as a candidate for the Russellville Park Hall of Fame when it opens on former Portland Mayor Bud Clark's 100th birthday on December 19th, 2031.
