Friends, family and fellow foresters of the late Dick Powell have donated $6,170 to the Philomath Middle School woodshop program to buy a wood lathe and bandsaw in his memory.
Steve Pilkerton, treasurer of the Society of American Foresters’ Marys Peak Chapter, presented the memorial contribution to the Philomath School Board on Tuesday night. Pilkerton said the money came from Powell’s family and friends, along with three chapters of the Society of American Foresters.
“Thank you for this opportunity to recognize and memorialize Dick Powell’s volunteer service, especially with the Philomath Middle School woodshop program,” Pilkerton told the board.
Powell died July 30, 2025, after a battle with cancer. He was 80.
A 1967 OSU forest management graduate and Air Force veteran, Powell spent 43 years as a forester with Starker Forests, starting in 1972. He became the company’s first public outreach forester, a position Pilkerton said may have been the first of its kind in Oregon.
Pilkerton said foresters have come to see public education as essential to their work, even in communities built on timber. Powell made that his calling.
Known as “Tree Man” to thousands of students and adults, Powell led nearly 1,800 participants a year in programs on tree identification, soil science, wilderness survival and other topics. He was the lead organizer of the Benton County Youth Natural Resource Forest Expo, helped run the annual Starker Forests Tree Planting Day and was a familiar presence at Outdoor School. He also helped secure statewide Outdoor School funding through the Oregon Lottery and co-founded Kids Day for Conservation.
Tree Planting Day was among his longest-running efforts. In a 2016 interview marking the event’s 25th anniversary, Powell recalled how it began with Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops and grew to draw more and more participants each year. Philomath High’s forestry program, under teacher Terry Selby, eventually joined in to stake out plots and help with the educational side.
But Pilkerton said Powell’s family told him the work dearest to Powell was in the Philomath Middle School woodworking and woodturning shop.
Powell also served on the advisory committee for Philomath High School’s forestry career and technical education program. Pilkerton said Powell believed in STEM education and went a step further with STEAM, using art to bring math and other concepts to students at the lathe.
Pilkerton read a note from Ben Silva, woodshop teacher at the middle school.
“He was a huge part of the program for almost 15 years,” Silva wrote. “He was here every morning for two and a half hours up until his health started limiting his ability.”
Pilkerton also shared a note from Powell’s daughter, Candi, thanking the middle school for supporting her father’s passion for education and woodturning. She described his final days.
“All he wanted to do was be a productive citizen and spend time doing what he loved — to continue to teach kids at Philomath Middle School,” she wrote.
Powell’s honors included the Boy Scouts of America’s Silver Beaver Award for longtime leadership, Oregon Society of American Foresters Forester of the Year and recognition as a Society of American Foresters Fellow. He was also an honorary member of the Associated Oregon Forestry Clubs, now known as Future Natural Resource Leaders.
Pilkerton closed by saying that honoring Powell means honoring all volunteers who support education and youth development.
Board Chair Tom Klipfel said he knew Powell through his own children’s time in Philomath schools. He recalled the fifth-grade forestry field trips to Starker Forests and seeing Powell at Tree Planting Day when he brought Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.
“So he certainly made a giant contribution to our community,” Klipfel said. “I had no idea how involved he was in the middle school woodworking program until this all came out.”
Klipfel thanked everyone who contributed, as well as Powell’s family, for his service to the community and the district.
“What a great legacy,” Klipfel said, noting the new equipment will leave the school with a much more robust woodshop.
