Photo credit to Keizertimes
Jerry McGee
Author / Mentor / Historian / Friend
Jerry McGee was born and raised in southwest Washington. He worked on five of the major dams in the Pacific Northwest including the tunnels on Yale and Swift Creek Dams on the Lewis River. He spent over two decades as an amateur prospector in the Mt. St. Helens Mining District. He mistakenly thought Mt. St. Helens was his; at least until May 18, 1980. Jerry received his doctoral degree from the University of Northern Colorado. He retired from Oregon State executive management service in 1991.
Jerry Had A
Passion for History
During his time as a councilor, McGee sowed the seeds of his next act, Keizer’s unofficial historian. He helped establish the Keizer Points of Interest Committee which has been marking historical sites through the city for almost two decades. Passion projects for McGee included marking the spot where the 45th Parallel crosses River Road North, a spot at the corner of River Road and Chemawa Road that represents the donation land claim of Thomas Dove Keizur, and a statue of Keizur himself outside the Keizer Civic Center. McGee was a regular visitor to Keizer classrooms where he dressed in character as Keizur to deliver enthralling history lessons, and he wrote about the Keizur family’s wagon train trip to the Willamette Valley in a historical novel titled It’s a Long Way to Oregon.
Photo credit to Keizertimes