Last Sheep Camp

Ron Raboud

The Wild Sheep Family mourns the passing of Summit Life Member Ron Raboud, founder and CEO of Wounded Warrior Outdoors. A giant of a man. A man amongst the men and women he tirelessly served. He was a hero saving heroes. Rest In Peace, Ron. We’ll see you on the summit.

Ron passed away on April 7, 2022 after his valiant battle with brain cancer. Surrounded by family and friends at the time of his passing, Ron had a profound effect on the lives of so many. The sheer number of calls and messages received on his behalf is a true testament to his character and the far-reaching impact that Ron had on others. Even as we mourn, we are comforted knowing that he is now at peace and that his memory will live on through all of those he has touched. Ron was the founder of Wounded Warrior Outdoors, an organization near and dear to his heart, which will carry on Ron’s legacy for many years to come. Ron was so appreciative of all the well wishes he received during his illness, and Ron’s wife, Lisa, and their sons thank everyone for their kindness, prayers and support during this difficult time.

Ron loved the outdoors. He loved hunting, fishing, and seeing others enjoy his passion for nature. Ron loved to travel. His adventures took him throughout the United States, north to Canada, and across the Atlantic to Africa. Coming from a military family along with his passion for sportsmanship and the outdoors, Ron founded Wounded Warrior Outdoors in 2006.

He was the son of a wounded warrior and the cousin of a warrior killed during the Vietnam War. Ron partially attributed establishing Wounded Warrior Outdoors to his guilt over never having served in the military. But he shouldn’t have worried. He more than made up for it in his service to others.

Ron began hosting therapeutic adventures on his own property, but eventually partnered with several U.S. military medical facilities to organize supervised programs for wounded personnel. His work began with helping those with physical injuries and grew to serve those with mental injuries—the invisible injuries—those we cannot see. Through Ron’s sheer will and dedication, he gave those in need a chance to reconnect with their warrior brothers and sisters. WS

John Stoner

John Stoner, 81, of Lancaster, PA, passed away peacefully on March 18, 2022. He was the husband of Ethel Stoner with whom he shared 58 years of marriage.

Carrying on a business rooted by his grandfather and watered by his father, for more than 55 years John flourished in bringing life through the soil and introducing new vegetables to the customers and chefs through the family produce stand at Lancaster Central Market. John took pride in sharing quality, perfectly-ripe vegetables and showing care to each customer.

John loved the beauty of God’s creation. His passion for hunting would emerge and grow during the two years he and Ethel lived in Colorado, 1963-1965. His dream and pursuit of the FNAWS began in 1972 and he completed the FNAWS in Mexico in 2014 with the desert sheep.

At WSF conventions he discovered many other animals and places he wanted to hunt. John hunted on five continents, including four Canadian territories and eleven U.S. states with many of his friends. In addition to the FNAWS, his trophy collection included an aoudad sheep, various North and South American deer and antelope, elk, a moose, several bears, mountain lions and goats, a timber wolf, a zebra, an impala, ibexes, turkeys and a muskox. John always said that his hunts were as much about the experience as being successful, even when he wasn’t successful.

He also loved beaches, and with his wife, visited over 30 Caribbean Islands and beaches in the South Pacific and Central America. The British Virgin Island of Anegeda and Culebra, Puerto Rico (where he spent his last healthy days) where his favorites, both for the beauty of the beach and the people.

He is survived by his wife Ethel, his son Scott and daughter Melissa, his grandchildren, Elliot, and Bethany married to Austin Dienner, and his great grandson Rowan Dienner who will carry on his love of God’s beautiful creation and caring for those he encountered. WS

Linda South

Linda Arlene South, 70, a resident of the North Plains community, passed away on March 13, 2022 at her home.

Linda was born on June 7, 1951 in Princeton, Minnesota. She was the second of two children to Robert and Gladys (Symmonds) Miller. She was raised in Princeton until the age of six when her family moved to Corvallis. Linda graduated from Laurelwood Academy with the Class of 1969. After high school Linda attended nursing school, earning a degree in Practical Nursing.

She met her future husband, Donald South, through their families. Their friendship turned into a courtship and they were married on May 12, 1973. They made their first home together in Corvallis before moving to North Plains in 1978. Together they had two children.

Linda spent her 50 year nursing career working in family practice settings. She spent over 30 years of that working with Dr. RJ Pitts at his practice in Hillsboro. While she technically retired in 2016, she continued to work on-call for the Portland Clinic nearly until her 70th birthday. Nursing was a lifelong career which she truly enjoyed.

Linda had many interests beyond her career. She loved the outdoors; hunting, fishing, camping and gardening. Linda was a world traveler and also enjoyed a good book. She was a life member of the Oregon Wild Sheep Foundation and served on their board. She owned a beauty salon in Portland for several years. Together, Linda and Don built and operated South Tree Farm.

She is preceded in death by her parents.

She is survived by her loving husband Don, two children; Troy and Jennifer South of North Plains, Jen and Garrett McFadden of Arizona, sister; LaVonne Miller of Portland, five grandchildren; Steen, Luke, Madeleine, Kale, Alena, one great grandchild; Zion and three nieces.

A private graveside service for the family was held on March 26, 2022 at Raffety Cemetery. A Celebration of Linda’s Life was held on June 4, 2022 at 2 o’clock in the afternoon at the Walters Cultural Arts Center 527 East Main Street, Hillsboro, Oregon 97123

Donations can be made in Linda’s name to the Oregon Wild Sheep Foundation. WS

Ed Rasmuson

Edward “Ed” Rasmuson, a banker and philanthropist who led Alaska’s largest philanthropic organization, died Tuesday at age 81.

Rasmuson had been diagnosed with brain cancer about a year ago and entered hospice care three days before Christmas. His oldest daughter, Natasha von Imhof, said he died in the company of family on Tuesday afternoon in Anchorage.

“We’ve all known this time was coming. It’s a sad day,” said George Suddock, one of Rasmuson’s friends since childhood.

The family said a memorial service will take place at a date to be determined in the spring.

Rasmuson inherited control of Alaska’s most powerful bank, National Bank of Alaska, and guided it through the pipeline boom and oil bust before it was sold to Wells Fargo in 2000.

When Rasmuson’s father died that year, proceeds from the billion-dollar sale made the Rasmuson Foundation into Alaska’s largest private philanthropic organization. Rasmuson switched from banking to the chairmanship of the foundation, distributing millions of dollars in gifts to benefit the arts, education, charitable projects, nonprofit organizations and community projects.

Former Alaska Gov. and U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, who knew Rasmuson for decades, said what distinguished Rasmuson was a determined focus on Alaska, whether developing its economic resources as a banker, or developing its cultural and social resources through giving.

“His interest was really Alaska,” Murkowski said.

In a message announcing Rasmuson’s death, the Rasmuson Foundation said that under his leadership, it invested in the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program, helped create Pick.Click.Give. and started efforts in Anchorage to end homelessness and develop world-class trails and parks.

Outside of work, he served on the boards of the University of Alaska and Alaska Pacific University, as a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, as an elder at his church, and was known as an avid outdoorsman who hunted across Alaska and in Afghanistan.

“He was a good friend, a great guy, and a generous person. I think it’s a loss for the state,” said Carl Marrs, a Native corporation executive who was one of Rasmuson’s longtime friends and hunting partners.

Rasmuson is survived by his wife of 52 years, Cathy, his older daughter state Sen. Natasha von Imhof, and his younger daughter, Laura Emerson. He was preceded in death by his two sons, David and Bruce.

Rasmuson was born in 1940 in Houston, Texas, the first child of Yakutatborn Elmer Rasmuson and Lile Bernard. Three years after Ed was born, his father moved back to Alaska to take over what was then known as the Bank of Alaska.

As a result, Ed grew up in the roughand-ready streets of Anchorage during and after World War II. Lile died in 1960, and Elmer Rasmuson remarried the following year. Ed went off to Harvard, earning a degree in history, but he stayed involved in the banking industry on the East Coast.

After the 1964 Good Friday earthquake destroyed the family home, Ed returned to Alaska, then went to work for the family business, first in Wrangell, then Ketchikan and in 1967, back to Anchorage.

“He liked to hunt. I remember him out in Wrangell, sitting on a log waiting for the ducks to come in, and he’s sitting there, reading the Wall Street Journal in his duck gear,” said Murkowski, describing Rasmuson during his time in Southeast Alaska.

At a Valentine’s Day party in 1969, Rasmuson met a young Canadian, Cathryn “Cathy” Robertson. They were engaged that summer and married that fall.

“We saw our marriage as being part of a team, complementing and meshing our strengths,” she said Tuesday. “He was the head. I was the heart. His problemsolving, budget-oriented mind mixed with my passions...we were a formidable team.”

Ed was promoted through the ranks of National Bank of Alaska, becoming president in 1974, the same year construction began on the trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

“Ed felt that he was a bridge between the old era and the new, from pencils and bank ledgers...to computers and internet banking,” Cathy said.

An avid hunter and traveler, he visited locations around the world, including Afghanistan in 1978.

When he was picked as the president of the University of Alaska Board of Regents the following year, an Anchorage Times reporter labeled him a “nativeborn aristocrat in a state too young, free-wheeling and transient to have many such.”

Named chairman of the National Bank of Alaska board in 1985, he served in that role until the decision in 1999 to sell the bank. At the time of that choice, it had $2.9 billion in assets and accounted for 45% of all of Alaska’s bank deposits.

After the bank’s sale, he became chairman of the Rasmuson Foundation, which had more than $400 million in assets at the time.

By 2003, the year the University of Alaska Anchorage’s business and public policy building was named Rasmuson Hall in honor of Ed and Cathy, Rasmuson said he hoped to see the foundation grow to more than $1 billion at the time of his death. As of the start of 2021, it had $729 million in assets.

“Every man hopes that what he accomplishes could perhaps be carried on by his son,” Elmer Rasmuson said shortly before his death in 2000. “I managed to have that with Ed.” WS