Leland Louvere Jenkins was born in Freewater, Ore., the eldest son of Arthur Lovere and Minnie Gen Harman Jenkins. (The cities of Milton and Freewater were merged in the early 1960s to become Milton-Freewater.)
The family moved to Athena when Leland was a child and he attended schools there. He was a standout athlete in basketball and football at Athena High School, and graduated in 1932. He began college at Oregon State University as an engineering major and played football. Due to the tough economic times during the Depression, he took time off from college to pay for it, and so took much longer than usual to finish his degree. Eventually he transferred to the much-less expensive Eastern Oregon Normal School (later EO State University) and studied to become an English teacher. He lettered in football and basketball and at one time played in an exhibition basketball game against Jesse Owens after the 1936 Olympics.
He married Priscilla Dot Vandecar on 31 March 1938, and upon graduation in the spring of 1939 took the "best job" available at the school in Rufus, Ore., (at $100 a month) right out of college. He worked there just one school year before moving back to Weston, working first as a "field man" for Lamb-Weston Inc. (although it may have had a different name at that time). He eventually bought a wheat ranch in Weston and also farmed with his father (and perhaps his brother Lowell) on land near Lewiston, Idaho.
During World War II, Leland was in an "essential occupation" (as a farmer) so was deferred from draft; he served as a Civilian Air Patrol pilot ferrying military planes as needed in Oregon and Washington.
In the 1946 Athena City Directory, he is listed as one of four corporate officers for the Eastern Oregon Canning Co. in Weston. (The officers listed are Robert V. Wood of
Walla Walla, Wash., president; James Kuhns, vice president; Leland Jenkins, secretary; and Frank Price, treasurer.) That information is repeated in the 1948 directory. I believe he helped found that company, and it may have been what eventually became Lamb-Weston Inc.
By 1948 he was serving on the Weston School Board, and continued in that elected position until at least 1951.
In 1958, Leland and Priscilla moved from Weston to a home on the Walla Walla River Road near Milton-Freewater; within about a year, they moved to another house in town and then to another home on Columbia Street, still in Milton-Freewater. They remained there until 1963, when Leland moved the family to first Springfield, Ore., when he was operating heavy equipment to build a new freeway, and then Eugene, Ore.
He had a variety of occupations and companies over his lifetime: English teacher and coach, wheat field man, wheat rancher, heavy equipment operator, truck driver, car salesman, car detailing and auto rental company owner.
He was a charter member of the Milton-Freewater Elks Lodge and was active throughout his lifetime in the Masonic Lodge and Shriners. After Priscilla's death in 1973, his longtime companion was Sally Schultz. He died of a stroke at home in 1987.
— From Sarah Jenkins, daughter, 2013
The family moved to Athena when Leland was a child and he attended schools there. He was a standout athlete in basketball and football at Athena High School, and graduated in 1932. He began college at Oregon State University as an engineering major and played football. Due to the tough economic times during the Depression, he took time off from college to pay for it, and so took much longer than usual to finish his degree. Eventually he transferred to the much-less expensive Eastern Oregon Normal School (later EO State University) and studied to become an English teacher. He lettered in football and basketball and at one time played in an exhibition basketball game against Jesse Owens after the 1936 Olympics.
He married Priscilla Dot Vandecar on 31 March 1938, and upon graduation in the spring of 1939 took the "best job" available at the school in Rufus, Ore., (at $100 a month) right out of college. He worked there just one school year before moving back to Weston, working first as a "field man" for Lamb-Weston Inc. (although it may have had a different name at that time). He eventually bought a wheat ranch in Weston and also farmed with his father (and perhaps his brother Lowell) on land near Lewiston, Idaho.
During World War II, Leland was in an "essential occupation" (as a farmer) so was deferred from draft; he served as a Civilian Air Patrol pilot ferrying military planes as needed in Oregon and Washington.
In the 1946 Athena City Directory, he is listed as one of four corporate officers for the Eastern Oregon Canning Co. in Weston. (The officers listed are Robert V. Wood of
Walla Walla, Wash., president; James Kuhns, vice president; Leland Jenkins, secretary; and Frank Price, treasurer.) That information is repeated in the 1948 directory. I believe he helped found that company, and it may have been what eventually became Lamb-Weston Inc.
By 1948 he was serving on the Weston School Board, and continued in that elected position until at least 1951.
In 1958, Leland and Priscilla moved from Weston to a home on the Walla Walla River Road near Milton-Freewater; within about a year, they moved to another house in town and then to another home on Columbia Street, still in Milton-Freewater. They remained there until 1963, when Leland moved the family to first Springfield, Ore., when he was operating heavy equipment to build a new freeway, and then Eugene, Ore.
He had a variety of occupations and companies over his lifetime: English teacher and coach, wheat field man, wheat rancher, heavy equipment operator, truck driver, car salesman, car detailing and auto rental company owner.
He was a charter member of the Milton-Freewater Elks Lodge and was active throughout his lifetime in the Masonic Lodge and Shriners. After Priscilla's death in 1973, his longtime companion was Sally Schultz. He died of a stroke at home in 1987.
— From Sarah Jenkins, daughter, 2013
Leland Louvere Jenkins was born in Freewater, Ore., the eldest son of Arthur Lovere and Minnie Gen Harman Jenkins. (The cities of Milton and Freewater were merged in the early 1960s to become Milton-Freewater.)
The family moved to Athena when Leland was a child and he attended schools there. He was a standout athlete in basketball and football at Athena High School, and graduated in 1932. He began college at Oregon State University as an engineering major and played football. Due to the tough economic times during the Depression, he took time off from college to pay for it, and so took much longer than usual to finish his degree. Eventually he transferred to the much-less expensive Eastern Oregon Normal School (later EO State University) and studied to become an English teacher. He lettered in football and basketball and at one time played in an exhibition basketball game against Jesse Owens after the 1936 Olympics.
He married Priscilla Dot Vandecar on 31 March 1938, and upon graduation in the spring of 1939 took the "best job" available at the school in Rufus, Ore., (at $100 a month) right out of college. He worked there just one school year before moving back to Weston, working first as a "field man" for Lamb-Weston Inc. (although it may have had a different name at that time). He eventually bought a wheat ranch in Weston and also farmed with his father (and perhaps his brother Lowell) on land near Lewiston, Idaho.
During World War II, Leland was in an "essential occupation" (as a farmer) so was deferred from draft; he served as a Civilian Air Patrol pilot ferrying military planes as needed in Oregon and Washington.
In the 1946 Athena City Directory, he is listed as one of four corporate officers for the Eastern Oregon Canning Co. in Weston. (The officers listed are Robert V. Wood of
Walla Walla, Wash., president; James Kuhns, vice president; Leland Jenkins, secretary; and Frank Price, treasurer.) That information is repeated in the 1948 directory. I believe he helped found that company, and it may have been what eventually became Lamb-Weston Inc.
By 1948 he was serving on the Weston School Board, and continued in that elected position until at least 1951.
In 1958, Leland and Priscilla moved from Weston to a home on the Walla Walla River Road near Milton-Freewater; within about a year, they moved to another house in town and then to another home on Columbia Street, still in Milton-Freewater. They remained there until 1963, when Leland moved the family to first Springfield, Ore., when he was operating heavy equipment to build a new freeway, and then Eugene, Ore.
He had a variety of occupations and companies over his lifetime: English teacher and coach, wheat field man, wheat rancher, heavy equipment operator, truck driver, car salesman, car detailing and auto rental company owner.
He was a charter member of the Milton-Freewater Elks Lodge and was active throughout his lifetime in the Masonic Lodge and Shriners. After Priscilla's death in 1973, his longtime companion was Sally Schultz. He died of a stroke at home in 1987.
— From Sarah Jenkins, daughter, 2013
The family moved to Athena when Leland was a child and he attended schools there. He was a standout athlete in basketball and football at Athena High School, and graduated in 1932. He began college at Oregon State University as an engineering major and played football. Due to the tough economic times during the Depression, he took time off from college to pay for it, and so took much longer than usual to finish his degree. Eventually he transferred to the much-less expensive Eastern Oregon Normal School (later EO State University) and studied to become an English teacher. He lettered in football and basketball and at one time played in an exhibition basketball game against Jesse Owens after the 1936 Olympics.
He married Priscilla Dot Vandecar on 31 March 1938, and upon graduation in the spring of 1939 took the "best job" available at the school in Rufus, Ore., (at $100 a month) right out of college. He worked there just one school year before moving back to Weston, working first as a "field man" for Lamb-Weston Inc. (although it may have had a different name at that time). He eventually bought a wheat ranch in Weston and also farmed with his father (and perhaps his brother Lowell) on land near Lewiston, Idaho.
During World War II, Leland was in an "essential occupation" (as a farmer) so was deferred from draft; he served as a Civilian Air Patrol pilot ferrying military planes as needed in Oregon and Washington.
In the 1946 Athena City Directory, he is listed as one of four corporate officers for the Eastern Oregon Canning Co. in Weston. (The officers listed are Robert V. Wood of
Walla Walla, Wash., president; James Kuhns, vice president; Leland Jenkins, secretary; and Frank Price, treasurer.) That information is repeated in the 1948 directory. I believe he helped found that company, and it may have been what eventually became Lamb-Weston Inc.
By 1948 he was serving on the Weston School Board, and continued in that elected position until at least 1951.
In 1958, Leland and Priscilla moved from Weston to a home on the Walla Walla River Road near Milton-Freewater; within about a year, they moved to another house in town and then to another home on Columbia Street, still in Milton-Freewater. They remained there until 1963, when Leland moved the family to first Springfield, Ore., when he was operating heavy equipment to build a new freeway, and then Eugene, Ore.
He had a variety of occupations and companies over his lifetime: English teacher and coach, wheat field man, wheat rancher, heavy equipment operator, truck driver, car salesman, car detailing and auto rental company owner.
He was a charter member of the Milton-Freewater Elks Lodge and was active throughout his lifetime in the Masonic Lodge and Shriners. After Priscilla's death in 1973, his longtime companion was Sally Schultz. He died of a stroke at home in 1987.
— From Sarah Jenkins, daughter, 2013
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