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Obituary

Al died January 7, 2022. He was born October 4, 1928, in Joplin, Missouri, and moved to Medford, Oregon, in 1943 and graduated from Medford H.S. in 1946. Al joined the Navy out of high school and was stationed in Oakland, California. After leaving the Navy, Al returned to Southern Oregon and got a job as the cook’s helper at the Cave Junction smokejumper base in the summer of 1948. The following season he was hired as a smokejumper and rookied in 1949. Following the 1950 season he was recalled to the Navy during the Korean War and was stationed in Japan through 1951. He returned in 1952 to jump at Cave Junction and continued through 1954. In 1955 and 56, Al operated the Shell Gas Station in Cave Junction. He returned to jumping in 1957 and remained at Cave Junction until 1964 when he transferred to the new Redmond Air Center as the smokejumper foreman. He made his last jump on his 40th birthday in 1968. Al continued at Redmond until 1971 when he moved to Ogden, Utah, to become the regional dispatcher for Region 4. In 1974 he returned to Oregon to be the Assistant Fire Staff on the Mt. Hood National Forest until his retirement in 1978. Following retirement, he and his wife Ruthie moved back to Redmond due to their love of Central Oregon. Following Ruthie’s death in 2016, Al continued to live in Redmond until 2018 when he moved to Hillsboro, Oregon. Al always like to remark that he lived longer in retirement than he did working for the Forest Service.

Identifier

Boucher_Albert-N-“Al”_Cave-Junction_1949

Publication Date

1-11-2022

Keywords

Smokejumping; Smokejumpers -- United States; National Smokejumper Association; Wildfire fighters; Obituaries

Disciplines

Forest Management

Smokejumper Obituary: Boucher, Albert N. “Al” (Cave Junction 1949)

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National Smokejumper Association

Wildfire fighters

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