1917 - 2009

Fred William Decker, 91, died April 3 in Corvallis, nine days after the death of his wife of 66 years, Charlotte. Born July 5, 1917, in Portland, he was the son of John William and Emma Sophia Schlickeiser Decker. Fred graduated from Benson Polytechnic High School and received the associate in engineering degree at Multnomah College in Portland. He held a Bachelor of Science in physics from Oregon State University, a Master of Science in meteorology from New York University, and a doctorate in physics, meteorology, and mathematics from Oregon State University.

Decker served in the U.S. Weather Bureau at stations in Oregon and California before World War II, advancing to professional status as an airways and general service forecaster in San Francisco. On leave from the Weather Bureau, he served on the faculty of New York University at the start of WWII, teaching future AAF weather officers. As an activated Air Corps reservist, his training assignments and service were as a liaison officer for research and development for Headquarters, Army Air Force. Post war, he continued as an active Air Force reservist, advancing through professional schools and assignments to retire as a Lieutenant Colonel of the Air Force Reserve.

Professor Decker joined the Oregon State University faculty in 1946 and served until 1981, where he taught courses in engineering physics, astronomy, climatology and theoretical and applied meteorology. He led a teaching and research program that led to the establishment of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at OSU. Dr. Decker wrote over 80 papers, reports and articles plus books including "The Weather Workbook," "Weather Map Study" and "Science Travel Guide." He continuously taught meteorological courses by correspondence for the Office of Independent Study of the Oregon State System of Higher Education. He frequently appeared in court as an expert witness as a forensic meteorologist.

Dr. Decker served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C., from September 1981 to May 1985, playing a leading role in management and policy of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Dr. Decker was an active member and leader of professional societies, including the American Meteorological Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers and Chairman of the Math-Physics Section of the Oregon Academy of Science.

He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Meteorological Society. He belonged to the international scholarly Mont Pelerin Society, national Philadelphia Society, and regional Mount Hood Society. He helped found the University Professors for Academic Order.

Dr. Decker traveled and lectured internationally, including a period as a visiting research associate at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and at the Institute for Physics of the Atmosphere in Munich. He and Charlotte traveled in Europe repeatedly and around the Pacific Rim on family and professionally associated trips, throughout the Northwest to gather forensic data for potential weather-related court cases, and enjoyed cruises to Alaska and Central America/Panama Canal just for fun.

Decker was active in local Corvallis issues. He served in various posts in the Boy Scouts of America, including that of Scoutmaster. A veteran member of Toastmasters International, he won the highest award given in a speech evaluation competition and served in various offices. He led in Republican Party campaigns, starting as a student campaigner in 1932. He was a prolific writer of letters to the editor. He actively participated in several Masonic fraternal bodies, including Lodge No. 14 and as a church layman.

Following the death of both of his parents, documents in their belongings led to successful attempts to contact cousins in The Netherlands and Switzerland during travels in Europe. Swiss cousins supplied information that led to an Oregon-based discovery that his previously unknown great aunt was the first woman lawyer in Oregon.

We three children remember Dad's daily interest in education. Dinner conversations always included a query of our school day activities. Occasionally, foreign students at OSU joined our dinner table and brought a more global perspective to the evening discussion.

Fred will be fondly remembered by his friends and neighbors as a backyard horticulturist. He experimented with grafting many additional varieties of apples onto a tree that began with five varieties, tried multiple varieties of table grape vines, enjoyed the bounty of an Italian plum tree and shared many cuttings from a pair of holly trees, especially in winters when the trees produced berries beyond belief. He enjoyed the backyard garden produce, especially when the vegetable or fruit made a good combination with a huge scoop of cottage cheese.

Dad loved a bargain. Three or four of an item came home when the price was right. He learned thrift and reuse/repurpose of items through his youth. Composting and recycling came naturally in a household with a father who grew up in the Depression years.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Charlotte; his parents; and his brother who died in infancy. Fred is survived by his daughter, Jane, of Tucson, Ariz.; son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Janet Decker of Sunnyvale, Calif.; daughter and son-in-law, Rainy and Gene Takalo of Damascus; four granddaughters; one grandson; two great-grandsons; sister-in-law; one niece; and one nephew.

The family requests memorial donations in Fred's name be directed to the following: New York University Alumni Association; Dean's Fund for Excellence, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University; or the Oregon Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America, in care of McHenry Funeral Home, 206 N.W. Fifth St., Corvallis, OR 97333. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at Grace Lutheran Church, 435 N.W. 21st St. Corvallis. Online condolences can be made via www.mchenryfuneralhome.com.