Robert Gene "Bob" Beerbower, a former longtime Grays Harbor County Commissioner and visionary member of the Grays Harbor County Fair Board, died in Tumwater on July 8. He was 85.

He served as county commissioner from District 1 from 1995 to 2008, and was chairman of the commission during the renovation and retrofit of the historic county courthouse after the Nisqually earthquake.

Beerbower was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, on March 28, 1941, to Mattie Catherine (Bowen) and Ernest Edward Beerbower. His family relocated to Washington when he was six months old, making the trip by car with all of their worldly possessions. The Beerbowers eventually settled in McCleary where Bob's father became engineer of the "Yard Locomotive" at the Simpson Mill. Ernie Beerbower went on to manage the McCleary baseball team where Bob, known then as "Bobby," became the team's bat boy. He developed a lifelong love of baseball.

Bob's commitment to public service was inspired by his father, who was mayor of McCleary from 1958 to 1966. Beerbower Park was named in his honor. Later, Bob's father-in-law, Elma Mayor Orville Boling, was also a political mentor. Bob attended school in McCleary through 8th grade. He was active in school politics and excelled in sports. When he moved up to Elma High School, his achievements were magnified. Friends remember him as always loyal and enterprising.

Bob married his high school sweetheart, Karen Lynn Boling, on January 10, 1959. They bought their first house east of Elma on the Cloquallum Creek. There they raised their family.

In 1960, straight out of high school, with a loan co-signed by his father-in-law because of his age, Bob purchased a service station - Bob's Chevron

Service - and operated it for the next 28 years. Bob employed dozens of young people from the community over the years. For many, including his children, Scott, Randy and Kim, it was their first job. Fellow Elma High School graduate and longtime friend LeRoy Avey worked with him most of those years and was considered one of the top mechanics in the area.

In April of 1964 The Elma Chronicle featured a photo captioned, "ELMA, McCLEARY MAYORS HAVE FAMILY TIE." It stated, "Mayors Orville Boling and Ernest Beerbower should be able to cement fine municipal relations through a marriage in the family.

In the late 1960s, Bob and Karen built a beautiful new home at Firlawn Estates west of Elma. Bob was a talented carpenter and did much of the work himself. During the mid-1970s, they supported their daughter Kris efforts in showing horses. They established Evening Star Arabians, and with the help of trainer Mike Lamb travelled all over the Western U.S. attending shows Bob served on the Grays Harbor County Fair Board for nine years. During that time the tair saw continual growth. Pari-mutuel horse racing, an important draw, became a major part of fairgrounds activity. In 1989, the final year of his service on the fair board, Bob and his son Randy co-chaired the Centennial Building. That effort won the coveted "Black & White" award from the State Fair Commission.

Bob was instrumental in bringing Fred Brownfield Promotions and the World of Outlaws to Grays Harbor Raceway and with the creative use of existing state funding, he helped reopen Straddleline ORV Park.

After closing the service station in 1989, Bob's years of experience in the automotive service industry was put to good use, when he was hired by Jerry Gowan to work at his parts house in Elma and he later manage the NAPA Parts House in Aberdeen.

After retiring, Bob helped spearhead the effort to name the fairgrounds pavilion in honor of his friend, Mike Murphy, a longtime county commissioner and fairgrounds advocate. Bob lobbied the commissioners and fair board members and worked with Mike's friends and family to help raise more than $35,000 to have signage placed on the building. This effort also provided funding for the initial historical panels placed by the Chehalis Valley Historical Society in the pavilion.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, brother Dale and his wife Mary, sisters Lucille and husband Dwayne Farrar and Edith and husband Fred Soller. Bob is survived by and will be forever loved and missed by his wife of 67 years, Karen; children Robert Scott Beerbower, Kimberly Lynn (Bill) Meyenburg, Randall Gene Beerbower, and Karen Kristine Watson; eight grandchildren: Mac (Alex Watson of North River, Shelby Meyenburg of Rochester, Jordan (Kelsey) Meyenburg of Tacoma Nick (Kacie) Watson of Cheney, Cameron (Megan) Meyenburg of Utah, Brad Watson of Elma, Maranda (Eddie Beerbower o Hoquiam and Lynsey Beerbower of Winthrop. Survivors also include ten great-grandchildren: Xela, Camrynn, Graley, Gavyn Akari, Benny, Bailey, Fletcher, Raelyn and Heavenly, as well as nieces - Cathy Terrell, Evie Comer, Sherry Huff, Deb Beerbower-Hill, Denise Boling and Lisa Everson; and nephews - Louis Farrar and Jim Beerbower.

The family also acknowledges special friends, Fred and Ardith Comer, Tom and Linda Easton, Joanne Vargas and family; as well as the staff at Tumwater Senior Living; Arionne Jackson and Diana Murphy for their support.

A celebration of Bob's life is set for noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30, at the Mike Murphy Pavilion in Elma. Arrangements are by Harrison Family Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob's memory may be made to Chehalis Valley Historical Society's

"Elma Museum Project" at P.O. Box 3021, Elma, WA 98541 or McCleary Museum & Event Center at PO. Box 554, McCleary, WA 98557.