Obituary for William Ferris Kingman Bill Kingman, 75, was born on Jan. 26, 1943, in Medford, OR. He was the fourth of five children born to Orville Arthur Kingman and Leona Maude Hall Kingman.
He died Oct. 25 at home in Sherwood after experiencing a decline from a stroke in May 2016 and from a broken hip from a fall last July. He was raised in Eugene, graduating from South Eugene High School in 1962.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on Nov. 6, 1962. After completing boot camp with no demerits and earning a reputation as being a meticulous, self-motivated worker, he was sent to parachute rigger “A” training school at NAS, Lakehurst, New Jersey, dashing his hopes of being assigned to air traffic control or meteorology school.
After training, he was assigned to an anti-submarine warfare patrol squadron at NAS Whidbey Island, WA. The squadron was deployed to Kodiak, Alaska, and Iwakuni, Japan. Part of his rigger duties involved teaching survival equipment skills.
He loved it when his duties involved flying on the squadron’s P2V Neptune. These flight experiences led to a life-long interest in flying and planes. He received an honorable discharge Nov.
5, 1966. After his discharge Bill worked as an assistant manager at Safeway for five years and was a Lane County deputy sheriff for two years. Bill had a lifelong love of big transportation — planes, trains, and “big rig” semi-trucks.
He spent 35 years as a driver, working for several trucking companies and a tour bus company. He retired in 2005 after 18 years with International Wood Products (IWP) in Clackamas. Bill had a wide variety of interests — especially all fields of science, history, geography.
He loved traveling and getting out on the road with his wife Georgia. He enjoyed a retirement cruise to Alaska and several cruises around the Hawaiian Islands, and the grand finale — a Viking River Cruise and land tour of China in 2013. He loved being an Oregonian, and never missed a chance to take out-of-state visitors sight-seeing.
As a “people person,” Bill was friendly and liked to talk with everyone he met. He could always find some common ground, and strangers did not remain so for long. He was known to all as a gentleman, good-natured, “straight arrow” type of guy, who was always willing to lend a helping hand.
But he was no push-over, and rarely did anything he didn’t want to do. Bill was always on time, dependable, and safety-conscientious. His scouting and military training along with his mother’s influence led him to be a person of integrity.
He developed an appreciation for design and theater arts from working on the stage lighting crew while in high school. Bill was a self-educated man. He loved watching television newscasts morning, noon and night without interruption; and educational programming on a wide variety of interests.
After his retirement, he enjoyed working in the yard, taking long walks, and visiting with neighbors. He spent many enjoyable hours on his flight simulator. Bill’s interest in planes was lifelong.
Brian remembers his dad taking him as a youngster to park along Portland International Airport’s fence line where they would watch planes land and takeoff while monitoring the tower’s communication with pilots on a scanner. Bill was proud of his son Brian; proud of the man, husband and father Brian has become. Also obvious to anyone who knew Bill was his devotion to Georgia, his wife of 32 years and the love of his life.
Theirs was a mutually devoted, love-at-first-sight love story. For Georgia, Bill was the only man she ever met who could match the stature of her beloved father. Rarely apart, it was always “Bill and Georgia; Georgia and Bill”.
Bill was predeceased by his parents, sister Maureen Eisenbeis, and brother Orville (Bud) Kingman. Bill is survived by his wife, Georgia Remmel; son, Brian (Rosalee) Kingman of Hillsboro; five grandchildren, Natalie, Matthew, Kayelee, William and Emmalie, Hillsboro; brothers, Ralph Kingman of Redmond, WA and Robert (Stephanie) Kingman, Eugene; and sisters-in-law Nancy (Ronald) Typinski, Missoula, MT and Peggy (Barry) Savage, Colorado Springs, CO. He is also survived by family friend Doug Armstrong, Bellevue, WA, and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.
The family would like to thank The Pearl at Kruse Way Rehabilitation Heath Center, the Marquis Newberg Post Acute Rehab, and Providence Hospice for their care and support during various times during the past 2 years. Cremation and burial arrangements at Willamette National Cemetery are being handled by Attrell’s Newberg Funeral Chapel. A celebration of Bill’s life to be held in the spring.
Upcoming Events Graveside Service , NOV 8. 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM Willamette National Cemetery 11800 SE Mt. Scott Blvd.
Portland, OR, US, 97086 Cemetery Details Willamette National Cemetery 11800 SE Mt. Scott Blvd.
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