MICHAEL EDWARD "MIKE" ZIMMERMAN ~ Class of 1954
May 26, 1936 - December 16, 2009





Mike was born in Coffeyville, KS and lived there about 10 years before migrating to the Panama Canal Zone with his family where he lived until 1964 with the exception of two relatively brief departures, once to the Pacific NW for two years during his high school years -- he graduated from Columbia High School in 1954 -- and once for two years while he attended college in Kansas.

During his post-collegiate time in Panama, Mike's Mechanical Engineering degree from Kansas State led him into employment as a Civil Servant working for the Navy. When he brought his family to Oregon in 1964, Mike worked in the local farm fields for a couple of months before securing a position in the Oregon Dept. of Transportation Engineering Dept. He remained employed there until his retirement in 1993.

Mike was a life-long outdoorsman and an accomplished mountain climber. After his retirement, Mike became an avid skydiver and obtained a private pilot license. His love of photography coupled with his love of the outdoors, his family and friends, led him to create lasting records of his many adventures and a multitude of family events. Mike's value of community was demonstrated in many ways, from his stint as a Marion County Deputy Reserve in the early 1970s to the ice cream bars he handed out to neighborhood children over many summers. The American Red Cross recognized him as one of their 10+ gal. donors.

 Mike was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Kenneth Charles, Jr. and Alma Theadora (Wilson) Zimmerman; his brother, Kenneth Charles "Casey" III; and sister, Alma Kay Webb.

Mike leaves behind his former wife, Jeanene K. Zimmerman; daughter, Susan Wheeler, of Salem; son, Michael Eugene Zimmerman, of Riverside, WA; daughter, Elizabeth Davis, of Dallas; 7 grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren.

A memorial gathering was planned for Saturday, January 2, 2010 at Church on the Hill, 2707 Maranatha Ct. S.E., Turner, OR, located at the Sunnyside/Delaney Ex #248 off I-5 south. The family requests no memorial donations or flowers but please come with a story or memory to share.

Published in StatesmanJournal on December 29, 2009

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