Gold Star Transportation, Inc.

Victor Dela Gorre-Macias, 47, forklift operator at USP Lumber Connectors, Livermore, Ca., was killed Nov. 9 after the forklift he was driving rolled off a loading dock and fell on him.

Mr. Gorre-Macias, who had been with USP for one year. was moving pallets and apparently backed up too far at the edge of the loading dock.

Carl David Johnson, 75, longtime Arizona lumberman, passed away in Sun City, Az., after a long fight with Lewy Body disease.

Mr. Johnson first started his career in the lumber industry in March 1949 at age l9 at Capital Lumber Co., Phoenix, Az. During his first year he worked as a laborer, then for two years as a truck driver. After that, he worked in sales until layoffs forced him to leave Capital in 1962. He worked for Georgia Pacific from 1962 until December 1973 then rejoined Capital Lumber, where he stayed until his retirement in June 1995.

David R. Hopper, 52, former manager at Valley Lumber, Big Oak Flat, Ca., died Nov. 14 in Groveland, Ca.

An Army veteran of the Vietnam War, Mr. Hopper managed Valley Lumber for l2 years.

Delbert LaQuincy "Dube"

Prindel, 88, longtime Oregon lumberman, died Nov. 2l in Eddyville, Or.

Mr. Prindel worked as a logger and lumber carrier at W.O.W. Lumber and later 3G Lumber, retiring rn 1982.

He served in the Army Air Corps in China, Burma and India.

Inez M. Hauser, 98, former bookkeeper for Mawson Lumber Co., Fort Collins. Co.. died Nov. l0 in Fort Collins.

Ms. Hauser worked for Mawson Lumber, which was owned by her husband, for 24 years, retiring in 1968.

Boise Renamed After Split

Boise has completed the sale of its paper, forest products and timberland assets to Madison Dearborn Partners LLC for $3.7 billion.

The divisions have been renamed Boise Cascade LLC, based at Boise's former headquarters in Boise, Id. Operations not sold were renamed OfficeMax, Inc. "This transaction completes Boise's transformation, begun in the mid-1990s, from a predominantly manufacturingbased company to a world-scale distribution company," stated George J. Harad, OfficeMax's executive chairman.

Boise Cascade Closing Reman Plant

Boise Cascade LLC is closing its Riverbend lumber remanufacturing plant in Horseshoe Bend, Id., at the end of the year.

"We have spent two years evaluating ways to improve the economic performance of this operation," said Tom Lovlien, senior v.p. of Boise Building Solutions. "Due to many factors outside our control, we have reached the conclusion that the operation's performance will not improve, which unfortunately means it will be closed."

Before the plant closes, Boise will go through a 45day assessment period.

Factors contributing to the plant's closure include expensive transportation of lumber and finished products, and cost-cutting, including the customer service programs.